The War Prize
by watercrab
Summary: Sozin's comet came and Aang could not defeat Ozai. The Fire Nation is falling apart and the gang is planning another invasion. They recieved news that Katara is being held captive and Zuko goes on a suicide mission to save Katara.
1. Chapter 1

**This story came to me while I was sick and on Sudafed. Does not follow the Oracle timeline.**

**It's rated: M; which means language, adult situations, and smut.**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

_Sozin's Comet came and the results were mixed. Iroh and the Order of the White Lotus successfully took back Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King. Sokka, Suki, and Toph single handedly destroyed all the airships that were planning to burn the world. Katara and Zuko stopped the crazed Azula. Sadly that was all the good news. Aang could not go into the Avatar State and he was unable to beat Ozai. He barely made it out alive. Appa returned to Ba Sing Se with a gravely injured Zuko and a necklace but no Katara._

_Weeks have past and there was no word on Katara. Ozai declared himself Fire Lord again and Azula was charged with treason. With the success of recapturing Ba Sing Se, people have been flocking to the city to join the ever growing military. Sokka became involved in planning another invasion on the Fire Nation. Aang began training again but he refused to talk about why he could not go into the Avatar State. Master Piandao came back from a mission in the Fire Nation and he had news._

****

"He's up!"

"Zuko, can you hear me?"

"Don't need to yell Snoozles! He can hear you just fine!"

"Don't move boy! You are still injured!"

The last thing that Zuko remembered was standing in front of Katara and taking the lightning blast. He could hear Katara screaming his name and he could smell the burning flesh. Then everything went black.

Zuko slowly opened his amber eyes and saw three heads staring at him. He blinked his eyes a couple of times trying to focus on the faces peering at him. He recognized the faces of Suki and Toph but he did not know the face of the angry woman. Toph gave him a smile and quickly turned around. Zuko assumed that the blind earthbender was wiping her eyes. Suki gave him a small smile but there was an abundance of sadness in her eyes.

"What happened?" Zuko groaned as he tried to get up. The angry woman pushed him back down into the bed.

"You are still weak," the woman hissed.

"Ulna," Zuko heard Sokka's voice. He turned his head to see Sokka sitting on a chair with his leg propped up. His hair was not pulled back into his usual wolf tail. "Why don't you give us a moment?"

Ulna glared at Sokka before she left the room. Zuko could hear her murmuring about an _ungrateful Water Tribe bastard_.

"Glad the bitch is gone," Toph snorted and sat on the bed. "She was driving me insane."

"Language," Suki warned with a sad sigh. She sat on the armrest on Sokka's chair.

Something was not right. Zuko looked around the room and noticed that he was not in his room at the Palace. The room was small and it was decorated in various shades of green. A heavy weight formed in his heart. This was not good.

"We've lost," Zuko murmured.

"Yes and no Sparky," Toph answered while she picked her toes.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Iroh recaptured Ba Sing Se," Toph started. She gave her toes a little wiggle before picking at them again. "Warrior Princess, Snoozles, and I destroyed the airships and the world is still standing. Well except for Snoozles, he blew out his knee."

"What about Aang?"

"Aang couldn't defeat the Fire Lord," Sokka said.

"He's dead?" Zuko asked. He covered his face with his hands. This cannot be happening.

"He's alive," Suki replied. She wrapped her arm around Sokka and gave him a squeeze. "He couldn't go into the Avatar State. Thank the spirits that we got to him in time."

"So Ozai won," Zuko sighed.

"For now," Toph shrugged. Zuko cannot believe that Toph can be so callous right now. "Since we have Ba Sing Se and Omashu, we have been planning another invasion."

"Another invasion?"

"We have been receiving news that the Fire Nation is falling apart," Sokka answered before Toph could get another word in. "It has been giving everyone hope. Ba Sing Se is full of new recruits that want to stop Ozai once and for all."

"The Fire Nation is falling apart?"

"Why are you asking stupid questions?" Toph snorted. Sokka placed his hand over his face and gave out a grunt of some sort. "Of course it's falling apart! Ozai went nuts because he's not the Phoenix Lord and Crazy is dead."

Toph's comment made Zuko sit up. He stared at the earthbender as if she sprouted another head. He must have heard her wrong.

"Azula is dead?" Zuko asked. Everyone nodded their heads. "Katara killed Azula?"

"No," Suki said sadly. "Ozai killed Azula."

"About Katara," Sokka tried to explain but he was consumed with sadness.

"Where's Katara?" Zuko growled. His heart slammed into his chest. He would never forgive himself if something horrible had happened to her. "Where is she?" he shouted.

"Sugar Queen wasn't with you when Appa came back," Toph explained. Sokka crumbled into the chair and began to cry.

"She's not dead!" Zuko yelled. He could not understand the emotion that was surging in him. "She can't be dead!"

"She's not dead," Toph said sounding way too sad. "We thought she was until we received word a week ago. Master Piandao had to go to the Fire Nation to confirm it."

"What is it?"

"Zuko," Suki placed her hand on the banished prince's shoulder. "Katara did this to save you. If you were left behind, then you would've been dead."

"What happened to Katara?"

"Katara is the Fire Lord's waterbender."

****

Zuko let out a yell. He tossed the bedsheets away from him and began storming out of the room. His chest erupted in pain but he ignored the dizzy feeling that it was giving him. He wanted to kill the bastard of a father with his bare hands. Zuko barely heard Sokka, Suki, and Toph chasing after him and shouting.

Servants and soldiers dived out of the way as the banished prince strode down the hall. People pointed down the correct hall when Zuko barked for directions. He was not letting anyone stop him until he has answers.

The guard gulped when Zuko demanded to open the door. He looked over the firebender's shoulder to see Sokka, Suki, and Toph standing behind him. Zuko almost set the man on fire if he did not open the door but the guard did when Sokka gave him a nod. The pain intensified in his chest as he entered the room. All discussions stopped at once. Zuko realized that he was in a war room. Everyone was there; Aang, Iroh, the Order of the White Lotus, the Earth King, the Earth Kingdom generals, Hakoda, and the Water Tribe Warriors.

"Why is Katara in the Fire Nation?" Zuko shouted. His body quiver in anger and in pain.

"Nephew!" Iroh cried out. "You shouldn't be up!"

"Don't patronize me, Uncle!" Zuko growled. He felt light headed and his knees gave out. Suki was standing right behind him and was able to catch him. She led Zuko to an empty chair.

"Why did you leave Katara behind?" an angry voice shouted.

"Twinkle Toes!"

Zuko's head snapped up and glared at Aang. He was outraged that Aang even suggest that he did this on purpose. A fireball formed in his hand but stop when Sokka gripped his shoulder. The fireball slowly died out and Zuko gave a deep breath to calm down. He should not let the young monk get to him and focus his energy on how to save Katara.

"Avatar Aang," the Earth King said calmly. "From what I heard about Prince Zuko and Master Katara, I believe that Prince Zuko would not abandon her."

Zuko was shock that the Earth King would defend him when he helped captured Ba Sing Se with his sister. Aang did not seem impressed by the Earth King and continued to glare at Zuko.

"He's right Aang," Sokka said glaring at the young monk. "Zuko would rather die before leaving Katara behind," Zuko found that comment surprisingly true. "Besides he was dying when Appa returned. It's obvious that Katara risked her life for his."

"You can say that again!" Aang sneered.

"What's your fucking problem?" Zuko shouted as he slammed his hand on the table. "I've been out for a couple of days and just found out that we lost because you can't kill Ozai because it's _unethical_," Aang's face twisted in anger.

"Weeks Sparky," Toph whispered.

"Excuse me?" Zuko sputtered. He twisted his head so he can look at Toph.

"You've been out for a couple of weeks," Zuko did not have a chance to respond to the comment when Hakoda cleared his throat.

"Son," Hakoda started. Zuko's eyes immediately went to the table. He did not want to see the pained emotion in the man's blue eyes. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Barely," Zuko slumped in his chair. "Azula went crazy and challenged an Agni Kai. Sadly I accepted," he heard Iroh slapping his forehead. "It became a stalemate until Azula broke the rules of the Agni Kai," he ran his hand through his hair. "She aimed the lightning at Katara. I jumped in front of the blast. Then everything went black. I don't know what happened next."

"What happened next was Katara became a war prisoner!" Aang growled.

"War prisoner?" Zuko said sounding quite confused. _You mean war prize_, he thought. _He can't be that delusional._

"We just received word from Master Piandao that Master Katara is a war prisoner," Iroh said darkly. Zuko immediately took the hint that Aang did not know.

"So what now?" Zuko asked giving his uncle a glare. The old general and the council have a lot of explaining to do on why they are keeping Aang in the dark.

"I'm going to save her," Aang simply replied. The council gasped at the news. Even Sokka, Suki, and Toph looked surprise.

"You can't do that Twinkle Toes," Toph said and crossed her arms. "You still have a lot of training to do."

"Aang," Sokka said. "You are forgetting that the Fire Lord wants to kill you. Going to save Katara is like saying 'kill me'!"

"I'm the Avatar!" Aang shouted. "I should go save Katara! I've failed her!"

"The Avatar protects the world," Pakku reminded. "He should not be attached to one person."

"Seriously Twinkle Toes," Toph said with annoyance. "Do you know your way around the Palace? There's has to be at least a thousand secret passages in that place!"

"Two thousand Master Toph," Iroh corrected. Zuko felt his hand slapping his forehead.

"Whatever," Toph retorted. "What I'm trying to say is Sugar Queen could be anywhere."

"Then who do you think should save Katara?" Aang snarled. "Or are you planning to leave her behind?"

If Hakoda have not held back Master Pakku, then the old man would be leaping over the table throttling the young monk. The old man glared at Aang as he sat down. Sokka and Suki muttered something under their breath. Before he had a chance to think things through, Zuko stood up and cleared his throat.

"I'll go to Katara," Zuko announced trying to sound regal. "I'm the one that ask her to come with me. I'm at fault for putting her in this _situation_."

"No one is blaming you," Hakoda said. He gave the boy a small smile.

"I'm blaming him!" Aang yelled. He pointed his finger at Zuko. "You put this idea in her head!"

"Are you accusing me of brainwashing?" Zuko spat. He could feel the smoke coming out of his hands. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard!"

"Yes," Aang stood up. "She should have listened to me instead of going on your _field trip_."

"Field trip?" Hakoda asked.

"I'll tell you later dad," Sokka whispered.

"Listen to you?" Zuko roared. "She can make her own decisions!"

"Since she came back with you," Aang whispered harshly. "She has been confused."

The idea of roasting Aang where he stands quickly died out when it was mentioned that Katara was confused. All anger slowly went away as Zuko tried to process the information. He suddenly remembered that he was in a war room and he was acting like a child not an heir to a throne. Turning his eyes away from Aang, Zuko faced the Earth King.

"Please forgive me for disrespecting this conference your highness," Zuko gave a low bow. "I shouldn't let my temper get the best of me."

"You are forgiven Prince Zuko," the Earth King said being quite impressed by the youth. "Will you join us in planning the invasion?"

"No," Zuko answered. "I should not be involved. In case I've been captured."

"Capture?" the Earth King asked.

"Yes," Zuko answered. His amber eyes stared directly at Aang. "I'm bringing back Master Katara. She saved my life and I need to do the same."

"When are you leaving?" Jeong Jeong asked.

"Today."

"Nephew," Iroh pleaded. "You are still weak."

"I'm not resting until Master Katara is returned to her family."

"Leave in two days," the Earth King suggested. "This should give you plenty of time to formulate a plan," he turned to the Order of the White Lotus. "Would this give you enough time to contact your associates for help?"

"Yes," Jeong Jeong answered. The rest of the group nodded their heads.

"Thank you," Zuko bowed again. He slowly turned around and headed out of the room. He could feel Aang's eyes drilling a hole in his back. Once he left the war room, murmuring erupted from the men.

"Spoken like a true ruler of the Fire Nation," Hakoda said with admiration. Everyone nodded in agreement except for Aang.

"Spoken like a man that had his love taken away," Bumi whispered to Jeong Jeong making sure that no one can hear them.

"And he is hell bent in getting her back," Jeong Jeong replied in a low voice.

"Should be pretty exciting when he realizes that he loves her," Bumi chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the great reviews! Everyone has given me some great suggestions to add on to this story! Don't know if I'm able to use all of them. **

**This chapter went through some revisions but I'm happy with the results! The last section is my favorite!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

The two days went by slowly, too slowly for Zuko's preference. His plan was to hop on Appa, get Katara, and fly away. If he managed to kill Ozai on the way, that would be perfectly fine. That means that the war was over. Aang did not like the plan because he wanted to do it. Sokka liked the idea and wanted to come. The Order rejected the strategy. They said it was careless and would cause more damage. Zuko reluctantly agreed that the plan was plain stupid.

The Order and Zuko discussed the best way to rescue Katara. Routes where rejected and names were called, mostly between Pakku and Zuko. One argument became so heated that Bumi stopped them when his rock candy melted and turned to dust. He bent them into the wall while Iroh and Jeong Jeong had to calm them down. After all the fighting and disagreements, they came to a plan that they all agreed with.

The plan was for Zuko to head to the western coast of the Earth Kingdom to find passage to the Fire Nation. Once he landed on the east coast of the Fire Nation, Zuko would travel to the Capitol. He would enter the Palace's passageways and go to Katara. After they leave the Palace, they will head northeast. A boat heading to the North Pole would be waiting. They would stay there until Zuko is requested to take the throne. The invasion would start when they are trying to leave the Capitol. That should force Ozai to focus on the invasion not finding Katara.

Zuko saw one big flaw in the plan, it was time. It would take about a month to reach the capitol on foot without the aid of a flying bison and it would take another month just to reach the boat that would be waiting for them. He had no clue how long the boat ride to the North Pole would be. He understood the math and he did not like it. He was out for a month and now it would be another month to save Katara. The thought of her being Ozai's prize for two months unsettled him. It bothered him and it scared him to the core. He could not understand why.

The sun had not risen over the horizon but Zuko was awake. He was finishing sharpening his dual swords when Sokka limped into his room. The warrior gave him a sad smile and sat down in the chair and placed his leg on the bed. Guilt filled Zuko. He knew that Sokka wanted to come but the injury that he had received during the battle severely limited him. He was not sure that Sokka would be able to lead the invasion.

"How's the knee?" Zuko asked as he ran the stone over the blade. He could see the fine edge that was being form.

"Hurts like hell," Sokka said in a quiet voice. "When I came to the Castle, an earthbending healer worked on it. Now I'm waiting for a healer from the North Pole to finish the job. They should have cut it off."

Zuko gave a nod and continued working on the blade. The stone made a grinding sound as it ran along the blade. Sokka tried not to grind his teeth. He always hated that sound. It was a matter of seconds before the noise got to Sokka.

"I like your idea better," Sokka said as he tried to block out the noise. "Just get on Appa and ride in and ride out. Plus I'll come with you."

"You don't want to be there," Zuko solemnly said. He gave his sword one final look and smiled at the results. The edge was razor sharp. "This plan makes sense but it makes Katara suffer longer."

"Maybe it's not as bad we think," Sokka said hopefully.

"I wish I could believe that," Zuko sighed as he put his swords away and grabbed his dagger. Sokka winced when he heard the grinding sound again. "When Ozai say War Prize, he claims his prize," he winced at his words. "I'm sorry Sokka. That was uncalled for."

"Not a problem," Sokka said sadly. "Even I know what is happening," he paused for a second. "Is it common for Fire Lords' to have War Prizes?"

"No," Zuko answered truthfully and to Sokka's relief he stopped the sharpening. "There has been one Fire Lord that had a collection," he clenched his fists around the stone and the dagger's handle. "It was after the islands united. One of the offspring killed the Fire Lord and declared the throne his. That offspring started my family's rule," he bit back the disgust that was brewing.

"Oh," Sokka replied. He watched Zuko unclenched his fists and forced himself to continue sharpening his dagger. Sokka gave a smile when Zuko focused on the dagger. He knew that his sister would be safe with the firebender.

Personally, Sokka was glad that Zuko joined the group when he did. The teenager proved his loyalty and he earned Sokka's trust and respect after Boiling Rock. Sokka would go as far as calling the firebender a friend or a brother. He did know that Katara forgiven Zuko after they found their mother's killer but sometimes he wondered if something happened between the two and after what he had heard about the confrontation with Azula. Sokka could not help but think if Zuko had feelings for his sister.

"Why didn't you tell him?"

Sokka's mind snapped back to attention. He let his mind wandered that he did not hear the question that Zuko asked. Sokka's face went red as Zuko raised his eyebrow at him.

"What were you thinking about?" Zuko asked as he pointed the dagger at Sokka. The dagger had a sharp edge to it. Sokka believed that the dagger had a sharper edge than the swords.

"Err, Suki?" Sokka said sheepishly. Zuko gave him a frown. Sokka quickly went back to the topic. "What did you say?"

"Why didn't you tell Aang about Katara," Zuko said slowly. He placed the dagger in its sheath and began throwing food rations into a pack.

"We didn't know how he'll react," Sokka started. "He was upset that he couldn't defeat Ozai and he was outrage when you and Appa came back without Katara. Thank the spirits that you were the heir to the throne."

"How come?"

"Aang wanted answers from you," Sokka leaned into the chair and crossed his arms. "He didn't care that you were dying. Toph managed to convince him that we needed you alive to take the throne after the invasion."

"Sokka," Zuko hung his head low. "I'm sorry about Katara. I should have saved her."

"How?" Sokka snorted. "You took a lightning bolt to your chest! A _fucking _lightning bolt! You saved her! No one was expecting Ozai coming back."

"It should have been me," Zuko said. "It should have been me being the captive not Katara."

"Your head would have been on a pike next to Azula's," Sokka retorted.

Even though Sokka was right, Zuko could not stop feeling guilty about the situation. He was the one that asked Katara to come with him to the Palace. He was the one that accepted the Agni Kai challenge from Azula. He was the one that jump in front of the lightning bolt. He was the one that made her confused. He let out a low sigh. He was confused too, about her.

"I'll bring her back," Zuko vowed. He stood up and began strapping the pearl handle dagger to his waist.

"I know you will," Sokka said quietly. He slowly stood up and hobble up to Zuko. His hand went to his pocket and pulled out something. "Give this to her."

"That's your mother's necklace," an astonished Zuko said as he stared at the pendant in Sokka's hand. "How did you get that?" his face went from shock to pure rage. "Did that sick bastard," he could not finish his sentence.

"Easy there lion-tiger," Sokka joked. His smile fell when Zuko gave him a glare that would probably kill him on the spot. "It was wrapped around your wrist. I think she put it there," he placed the necklace in Zuko's hand. "And I think you should be the one to give it back."

Zuko stared at the necklace in the palm of his hand. The black leather choker felt softer than the last time he had it. The mother of pearl stone felt smooth as his fingers caressed the pendant but the design was not worn out. He closed his eyes as his hand closed around the necklace. He remembered when he had it. He would look at it before he went to sleep. The pendant would run along his knuckles. The leather would have a hint of roses, a scent that he secretly enjoyed and it consumed him when he dreams. Even now he could smell the scent of roses. It was too much for him. Zuko opened his eyes and let out a breath that he did not know that he was holding.

"I think you should give it to her," Zuko said and gave the necklace back to Sokka.

Sokka wanted to say something but was interrupted when Hakoda walked into the room. The Chief has not been himself since he learned about Katara's situation. His eyes were a dull blue and it looked like he has not been eating.

"Sokka?" Hakoda said in a quiet voice. "General Iroh would like to speak to you."

"Thanks dad," Sokka answered. He turned his attention back to Zuko. The prince was looking at Hakoda and his expression matched the older warrior. Right there, Sokka knew that all his questions about his sister and the firebender have been answered. "I'll see you before you leave."

"Okay," Zuko said and continued to stare at Hakoda. He heard the door shut and let out a deep sigh. "Chief Hakoda," he said as he made the traditional Fire Nation bow. "Please accept my sincere apologies for failing your daughter."

Hakoda made a low chuckle and sat on the bed. His eyes went straight to the dual swords lying on the bed and then to the dagger that was on the teenager's waist. Finally his eyes rested on the firebender. He could see the determination in the amber eyes and he knew that his daughter would be safe. He also knew that Zuko would die for her.

"Your uncle never told me that you were so humble," Hakoda said as made a gesture for Zuko to sit down. "He told me about your military background which is impressive for a man of your age."

"Uncle does not know about the humble part," Zuko said as he sat down next to Hakoda. "I learned that from Katara," a smile began forming on his lips.

"Sounds like she beat it in you."

"She did," Zuko replied staring at the ground. "I've deserved every bruise that she gave me."

"Son," Hakoda said as he stared at the wall. "I don't blame you for what happened. This was her choice."

"Her choice?" Zuko yelled and jumped off the bed. "You think this is her choice for," he changed his choice of words before speaking. "Becoming a_ toy_ to Ozai?"

"I didn't say she chose to be a _toy_," Hakoda frown and emphasized the word. "She understood what was going to happen if we lost!" he let out a frustrated yell. "I've lost my wife, their mother, to this bastard! I don't want to lose Katara to him as well."

"I know," Zuko said quietly. His hand ran through his hair. "I don't want to lose her to him too but I'm afraid that I, err _we_, already lost her," Hakoda did not noticed Zuko's slip up.

"I just want my daughter back," Hakoda sighed. "I know I'm asking too much that I want my Katara back."

****

Saying goodbye was the hardest thing that Zuko ever did. He thanked the Earth King for his hospitality and thanked the Order for helping with the plan. Hakoda shook Zuko's hand and then pulled him into a hug. The Chief whispered prayers that Zuko assumed that were Water Tribe's. Zuko then turned to Iroh and the old man pulled him in for a big embrace.

"Be careful nephew," Iroh whispered. Zuko forced himself not to cry. "I thought I have lost you once. Please don't get lost again."

"I won't Uncle," Zuko said his voice quivering. "I'll come back and help you with the tea shop."

"You hate tea," Iroh smiled through the sad tears.

"But you love it," Zuko managed to force a chuckle out. "In a very obsessive way."

He gave the old general one more hug and then headed to Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Toph. He thought he did well holding back his tears in front of his uncle but once he looked at his friends. He felt his eyes watering.

"Good luck Sparky," Toph said in a choked voice. She punched the banished prince's arm. "Tell Sugar Queen we missed her."

"I will," Zuko answered and rubbed his arm. "Raise some hell for me," Toph answered with an evil grin.

"Good bye Zuko," Suki said and extended her hand. Zuko took the offer and shook it. "You're not a bad guy after the pillaging and setting fires and what not," she offered him a smile to show that she was kidding.

"Thanks," Zuko smile back. He let go of Suki's hand and forced himself to look at Aang.

"Bring Katara back to me," Aang said icily. Zuko fought the urge to punch the monk.

"I'll bring her home," Zuko replied in the same voice Aang gave him. He silently cursed at the airbender. Who gave this little boy the right to think that Katara belonged to him? "Make sure you kill Ozai this time."

Sokka jumped in before the boys began to fight. Aang bit back a growl while Zuko glared at the monk. Sokka cleared his throat to alert the boys that everyone was watching them.

"Take care," Sokka said and extended his hand. "I'll see you after the invasion."

"I'll se you later," Zuko answered and shook Sokka's hand.

"Take care of her."

"I will."

Zuko released from Sokka's grasp and marched towards the main gates. He did not turn his head to watch the gates closed behind him. Giving his pack one final adjustment, Zuko headed down the path that will lead him to the nearest village. He had a long journey ahead of him and he wanted to make up lost time as much as he can. Katara suffered long enough.

****

Aang watched the gates closed and then turned around. He walked away from the group and headed to his room. He was still blaming Zuko for leaving Katara behind. He believed that Zuko should stay behind and accept his certain death. Suki told Sokka that she had to train some of the recruits and kissed him on the cheek before she left. The rest of the group slowly walked away from the gates leaving Sokka and Toph behind. Sokka reached in his pocket and pulled out a gold piece. He placed it in Toph's waiting hand.

"You won."

"I know."

"How did you know?" Sokka asked still staring at the gates.

"Always knew," Toph snorted. "You can hear their heartbeats a mile a way. Hard to sleep sometimes. What about you?"

"Just figured it out a few minutes ago."

"I think everyone knows that Sparky loves her except for him."

"Someone should tell Aang," Sokka felt his shoulders slump.

"Wasn't talking about Twinkle Toes but someone should tell him," Toph turned her head and stared at the general direction where Sokka was standing. "I was talking about Sparky."

****

Blue eyes slowly focused on the room that she was in. Her head was heavy and could not remember why she was in the room. She thought she was in a cell before she passed out. A frown formed on her face, she did not remembering passing out. She barely heard the door opening and a servant shuffling towards her.

"Drink," the servant said as the gold cup was thrust towards her face.

Her body ached. She winced as she slowly sat up. It felt like she was tore apart especially around the lower half of her body. Was she injured? How did she get injured? She did not remember getting injured. Her hand rested on her thigh and quickly pulled it up. Her thigh was sticky. She could not understand why she was sticky.

"Drink," the servant said with disgust.

She continued to ignore the order coming from the servant. Her head felt like lead and her focus was hazy. She tried to think but nothing came to her. It was like her mind had shut down. She tried to remember her name, herself, and why she was here but nothing came to her. Her mind was empty and all she could hear was an echo of her questions. Then something came and quickly disappeared from her mind. Amber eyes, beautiful amber eyes.

"Drink Waterbender," the servant said with a snarl.

Waterbender, the name made her flinch. The servant made it sound so filthy. She hated it immediately. It sounded like she was an object and deep down in her heart; she knew she was not an object. She was a person. A loud slap was heard and her hand immediately went straight to her face. The servant had slapped her.

"Drink," the servant said coolly.

Knowing that the servant would slap her again, she grabbed the cup out of the servant's hands. She narrowed her blue eyes and drank all the contents out of the cup. The liquid was thick but it slid down her throat easily. It was sweet but not overly sweet. The servant smirked at her when she returned the cup.

She realized her mistake when she felt her body calmed and everything going black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the great reviews! As a special treat, I'm posting two chapters!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

"_Zuko!" a pleased yell echoed around him._

Zuko let out a loud gasp and his eyes snapped opened. His body shook from the pleasure of the dream. He slowly sat up from the bed as he tried to push the dream out of his head. Whatever he was doing in his dream, Zuko knew that it was illegal in the Fire Nation probably in the Earth Kingdom too.

The smell of shit brought Zuko back to reality. He had accepted a ride from a kind farmer driving a cattle cart. The cart reeked of manure and Zuko could not wait to reach his destination. The cattle cart reached the port town before daybreak and Zuko took the farmer's suggestion of finding a room and a bath. He dragged his feet to the nearest inn and thanked the spirits that there was a room available. Zuko wanted to take a shower before taking a nap but when his tired eyes saw the bed, the shower was forgotten. Judging by the sun that was setting, he was asleep at least twelve hours. He slowly walked to the bathroom.

The shower did not calm his nerves. His body was still reacting to the dream and he kept making the water colder. He leaned his head on the shower wall and let the water trickled down his back. He let out a frustrated growl and pounded his fists into the wall. It was like the water was confirming his dream.

_Water, water everywhere, _his mind teased.

"Fuck," Zuko snarled and decided that his body won this battle.

Once his body was officially cleaned from the grim and dirty thoughts, Zuko rummaged through his pack for clean clothes. His green robe and brown pants reminded him of the Jasmine Dragon. He liked the clothes. They did not show that he was nobility and they definitely did not show that he was poor. The clothes made him look like a young colonist that was traveling.

Zuko strapped his dagger around his waist. He made sure that the weapon was concealed but easy to grab. He ran his fingers through his hair so it can fall lightly over his scar. Zuko remembered how his mother always commented on how fast his hair could grow. Sadness hit his heart. He wondered if his mother was even alive. At least Katara knew that her mother died. Zuko left his room and headed to the location that his uncle told him to go.

****

"You must be Captain Cree," Iroh said and gave the young man a firm handshake. "I had heard about your campaigns over the past year."

"Not as much as I heard about yours, General Iroh," Cree said returning the handshake.

"Ah," Iroh smiled and rubbed his chin. "Then you must know about my great failures!"

"The Dragon of the West does not have great failures," Cree chided. "But there was a tiny problem during the siege of Ba Sing Se."

"King Bumi did say that I would enjoy your company," Iroh laughed and slapped the younger man's back. "We shouldn't keep the council waiting."

Iroh waved his hand and began walking down the hall. Cree gave a nod and followed the old general. The walk was quiet but Cree could not hold down the excitement that was brewing in him. He was requested by King Bumi to be involved in the planning of the invasion. He will be working with the greatest military minds that this war ever seen. He will be fighting next to the Avatar and his companions. Cree could imagine how grand his military career would be but his imagination never went this grand.

Captain Cree grew up in a tiny mining village near Omashu. At sixteen, he left his home and headed to the city to join King Bumi's guards. He became a valuable asset to the guards when it came to security details. Unlike the other guards, Cree could see various attack possibilities and always had several escape routes if his king was ever attacked. Impressed by Cree's work, Bumi formally transfer the young man to the Earth Kingdom Army. There Cree rose in the ranks in strategic planning. He studied battle campaigns from the war and had a huge respect to the former generals, including the enemies. General Iroh was one of his favorite strategic planners.

"General," Cree asked as he broke the comfortable silence. "Is it true that the man collaborated the Black Sun Invasion is planning this invasion?"

"Yes," Iroh said. Cree could hear the smile in the old general's voice.

"Is it true that this man has been declared general even though he is from the Water Tribes?"

"Yes. He earned it. The Black Sun Invasion was not the only thing that he collaborated. He did a lot of work with the Avatar."

"Amazing," Cree was impressed by this new general's work. He stopped walking when the Avatar was mentioned. "The Avatar and his companions are here?"

"The Avatar and three of his companions are here. The other two could not make it," Iroh said with a sad voice.

"What happened to the other two?" Cree asked.

"Here we are Captain," Iroh said quickly changing the topic and opened the door to the war room. Out of respect, Cree dropped the question.

Cree followed Iroh into the room and quickly stopped in his tracks. He recognized the generals from the Earth Kingdom Army and noticed the men in blue where from the Water Tribes. King Bumi greeted Cree and introduced him to the members of the Order of the White Lotus. He could not hold back the shock when he met the Master Waterbender, the Fire Nation Deserter, and the famous swordsman. Cree was standing in a room full of legends.

What really surprised him was the group of teenagers. Talking to a Water Tribe man was a young woman dressed in green with her face heavily painted. Cree knew that the woman was one of the Kyoshi Warriors. Sitting at the table was a girl that was busy crumbling and straightening a piece of metal. Next to the girl was a boy with blue arrow tattoos. There was anger on his face. Iroh was leading a young man dressed in blue to Cree.

"This is the young captain that Bumi was telling you about," Iroh said to the young man. Cree tried to hold back his shock but failed. He made be in his early twenties but this boy was probably sixteen.

"The Avatar is a child?" a shocked Cree said. "His companions are children?" then it dawned on him. "You planned the Black Sun Invasion?"

Sokka could not help the smirk that was forming on the side of his face. He could hear Toph laughing in the background. The captain looked genuinely perplexed.

"General Sokka," Sokka said as he wrapped his arm around Cree. "But you can call me Sokka," he lead Cree to the war table. "We have the invasion planned out but we need some tweaking and I heard that you are the man for the job."

"What needs to be tweaked?" Cree asked as he studied the map. The invasion layout was brilliant. This new general was either a strategic mastermind or a complete lunatic. Either way, Cree cannot wait to work with him.

"Well Lord Fire Pants is known for playing dirty," Sokka smiled. Cree could hear snickering from the general's friends. "We need to know if we have to build up the defense while the offense plays through."

"Sounds easy," Cree held back the frown that was forming. That request was so simple that this general should be able to do it in his sleep.

"But wait there's more," Sokka exclaimed as he waved his hand to a grand fashion. Cree noticed that the Kyoshi Warrior rolled her eyes. Apparently this general was big on the theatrics. "We need to know if Fire Pants would launch a battalion here," he pointed at the eastern coast of the Fire Nation. "Here," his finger moved to the northeastern region. "And for humor's sake, here," his finger rested on the southern region.

"Why would the Fire Lord launch a battalion in his own country?" Cree asked as he studied the map. Sokka definitely knew how to make things complicated. "General," he stared at Sokka. "This would spread our offense really thin even if we expect them to do this."

"We are not planning to spread out our forces," Sokka said gravely. "That would be considered a massacre to our troops but we need to know if this could happen."

"I don't understand sir," Cree continued. "If you are not planning to spread out our troops then why do you ask?"

"Just humor me," Sokka's voice was clipped with sadness. Cree glanced over Sokka's shoulder and noticed the sad faces on the Avatar and his friends. His green eyes followed around the war room. All the men in the room had the same look of sadness on their faces.

"General, please forgive me for the disrespect," Cree said slowly. "Where are the two companions of the Avatar?"

****

The pub was dirty and it was filled with the shoddiest patrons that this port town ever seen. He almost expected to see Jun fighting with some of the patrons here. Zuko held back his smirk; this was his kind of pub.

He walked in liked he own the place with his head up and shoulders back. He headed to the darkest corner of the pub and while he was walking he already taken note of three possible exits and the number of patrons that had weapons. Zuko sat down in the chair with his back facing the wall and his amber eyes looking at the door. He could not help but smirk when he saw a couple of the patrons stood up and walked away from him.

_Good, _Zuko thought. _Let them think they are expecting trouble._

He waved off the bar maid with large breasts and wearing a tiny tunic when she asked him what he wanted to drink. The drink was tempting but he was on a mission. There is one thing he learned from the military is that you never drink on a mission. Zuko leaned back into his chair and let his eyes scanned the room. Hopefully whoever was supposed to meet him come soon.

Zuko remembered how Katara reacted when they left the tavern after they found Jun. She could not believe that he just walked in and approached Jun without even flinching. He teased her that he was not the spoiled prince that she thought he was.

He did not deny that he was a spoiled prince and now he would openly admit that he was spoiled. He grew up in that lifestyle of being waited on hand and foot. He expected things given to him when he demanded it. He believed that he was better than everyone else. That mentality changed after one year. Some of it was when he was on the run in the Earth Kingdom and a lot of it was from a headstrong stubborn waterbender. Once he obtained the throne, Zuko will be making a lot of changes in his life. Of course there will be some things that he would keep; like fine silk clothes, excellent cuisine, soft bedding, and a clean glass to drink out of. He was a prince after all.

As he patiently waited for the contact, conversations filtered in and out from his corner and all them where about one subject; the waterbender. His fingers dug into the wood table as the patrons talked about Katara if she was an object or a thing. Some of the discussions where speculations if the waterbender was a traitor, others where about how lucky that Ozai beds her every night, and the rest where about what the waterbender should do to them. Zuko gave the men a dangerous look when he heard that discussion. The men took a big swallow and quickly left Zuko.

Zuko hung his head down and thought about Katara. They had become good friends since they returned from their field trip. They trusted each other and he became the person that Katara turned to when she needed to voice her concerns. Zuko was annoyed that Aang claimed that he loved he but that young airbender brushed off all of her concerns with stupid happy go lucky sayings. That reminded him of Mai. She always brushed off his concerns with dry remarks and he given up to talking to her. Katara did the same thing to Aang. She was upset that Aang said that he could not kill Ozai but she told him to do what was right. She spent the rest of the night crying into Zuko's arms. When Aang disappeared, Zuko was the one keeping Katara strong.

_If that monk was so in love with her, then why does he keep ignoring her? _Zuko felt his upper lip curling in disgust.

Zuko thought about what happened when they found the Southern Raiders. He saw the power that Katara had during the full moon. It was amazing and scary at the same time. Then he thought about what happened after they found her mother's killer. As he recalled the memory, he thought he smelled roses.

****

"You don't sound convince _Captain_," Sokka grumbled as he looked at the map again.

Hours went by and everyone left except for him and Cree. The captain had come up with several plans where the battalions might go but each one was not up to Sokka's standards. The plans where not up to the captain's standards either.

"You are withholding information _General_," Cree grumbled back.

"I already told you that the Avatar's sifus are in the Fire Nation."

"I need more information," Cree retorted. "Just telling me that a waterbender and a firebender are running around the Fire Nation will not give you the answers that you want."

"What do you want to know?"

"Who are they?"

"I thought you knew?" Sokka asked raising an eyebrow. "Everyone knows about Aang."

"Everyone knows that the Avatar is an airbender but they don't know that he is a twelve year old boy," Cree said slowly as if he was talking to a child. "There is no face or name towards the Avatar and his teachers. We know that the teachers are all benders and they are all masters."

"Two are masters. Don't know about the other one," Sokka said as he rubbed his chin. He looked into Cree's eyes. "Does everyone know about me?"

"No sir," Cree could not help the smile from forming. "I never heard of you until today."

Sokka let out a loud groan. It felt like he was dealing Long Feng again. No one in the Earth Kingdom knew who they where. He found that troublesome because everyone in the Fire Nation knew who they where thanks to a crappy play.

"The waterbender is my sister," Sokka said slowly. "She is a master waterbender."

"The Fire Lord's waterbender?"

"Yes."

Cree's eyes went wide when he heard this bit of information. Suddenly his head went down to the map and began rearranging the pawns. His hands moved swiftly as he mumbled words to himself. Sokka had no clue what was happening but what he saw was something completely different than last time.

"You sister is a very important prize to the Fire Lord," Cree saw Sokka flinched at his words. "He would want his most trusted official to find her. Whoever is in charge would probably force her and the firebender to the western coast," he pointed to the location on the map.

"Western coast doesn't seem bad," Sokka said as he rubbed his chin.

"It's bad," Cree corrected. "There are no ports on the western coast. That whole coastline is just high bluffs."

"Maybe I should tell you who the firebender is," Sokka said half jokily still amazed by the captain's plan. "It's Prince Zuko."

Cree looked at Sokka as if he saw him for the first time.

"Prince Zuko?" Cree sputtered. His head went back to the map and began moving the pawns again. "That makes things more interesting."

"Why?" Sokka was flabbergasted.

"You don't know anything about Prince Zuko?"

"All I know is that the jerk chased us around the world before he joined us."

"Prince Zuko's military career is unbelievable," Cree explained as he fiddled with the pawns some more. "I only heard a few stories and I think a good majority of them are still classified," Sokka gave him a blank stare. Cree gave a deep sigh before continuing. "It was rumored that the prince was supposed to be Admiral of the Navy before his banishment."

"Wait a minute," Sokka said as he shook his head. "You're telling me that Jerkface was going to be in charge of the Navy before his balls even dropped?"

"That's one way to say it," Cree answered wrinkling his nose. "He's a military genius."

"I guess his banishment severely doubted his talents. He spent most of the time acting before thinking," Sokka said remembering their time at Boiling Rock. "Since you know about Zuko's military history, what happens now?"

"Prince Zuko would not head west because it's too dangerous," Cree said as he picked up a larger pawn. "Let's say this pawn is Prince Zuko and your sister," he pointed at the pawn. "If I was Prince Zuko, I would go," he studied the map for a few more seconds. "Here," he placed the pawn on the location.

"You're kidding right?" Sokka said as he stared at the pawn. "That's kind of obvious."

"Sometimes the obvious is the best kind of stealth, Sokka," Cree smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

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* * *

_They had ridden in silence after Katara spare her mother's killer's life. Zuko was amazed by the power that the girl had and the strength she developed when she chose not to kill him. He wondered if he could make that choice if he was in her shoes. He thought about that question as he landed Appa at a small island. He thought about it as he set up camp and made the fire. He thought about it as he sat next to Katara and watched her stare at the flames. He only came to one conclusion._

_If he was Katara, he would have killed the bastard because he was not strong enough._

"_Zuko?" Katara whispered. Her eyes still on the flames. "Am I a weak person?"_

_Zuko thought it was the stupidest question that she could ask but he understood why she asked it. She needed reassurance._

"_No," Zuko answered truthfully. "You are not a weak person."_

"_Do you find me weak?"_

"_Isn't that the same question?"_

"_Just answer it."_

"_I took you to meet this man. I wanted you to have closure. What you choose to do determine what kind of person you are," Zuko felt a smile forming. "You have always been a strong person. Your choice made you even stronger. You did the right thing."_

"_Would you kill him if you were me?"_

_It was amazing that Katara could ask the questions that are running through his mind. It was almost like she was a mind reader._

"_Yes," Zuko said slowly. "But I'm weak."_

_Katara turned her head and stared at him. Her blue eyes seemed to glow from the fire. She looked like a goddess and Zuko wanted to be forgiven by her. He also took note that the fire made Katara beautiful. She was always pretty but the way the fire made her skin look like gold made her exotic.  
_

"_You are not weak," Katara smiled for the first time since they went on their field trip. She raised her hand and her fingers caressed his scarred cheek. Zuko felt himself shiver at the gesture. "You've made a lot of stupid mistakes but you are not weak."_

_Any words that Zuko wanted to say were completely gone when he felt lips crashing onto his. Shock took over his body as he tried to register on what was going on. Lips moved with his and he felt a tongue lightly stroking his lower lip. Zuko opened his mouth to say something but the tongue darted in. It fought with his and that delicious tongue was winning. He never was kissed liked that, even when he was with Mai. He was taught to be a perfect gentleman and gentlemen only give chaste kisses. This kiss that he was receiving was passionate and very arousing. And it was coming from Katara._

_Who would have thought that Katara kiss like this?_

_The smart thing to do was for Zuko to pull away but his hormones took over. Hormones told him that a beautiful girl was kissing him and he should be thanking her any way he can. Zuko began returning the kiss matching the passion that Katara was giving. The more he gave, the more she returned. One hand went into her hair while the other one pulled her into his lap._

_Katara pulled away from his lips and began to nibble on the scarred ear. A moan escaped from his lips as he felt the wonderful feeling surging through his body. His mind kept repeating two thoughts. The first thought was that her hair was softer than he ever imagined. The second thought was that Katara put passion everything she do. Those thoughts ended when Katara sucked on the spot that connected his neck and shoulder. Zuko's eyes rolled up into his head. His hands instantly went to the knot that held her robe together. Shaky hands managed to undo the knot and the robe quickly opened giving Zuko access to her body. Strong hands ripped opened his shirt and moved them over his chest and back. A new thought popped in his head. _

_Katara is a master seductress._

_Zuko's hands began to touch the skin that was exposed by the open robe. He never thought that her skin could be so warm since she came from a cold climate. He admired her beautiful tan skin. He loved how soft it felt. An arrogant smirk appeared on his face when he felt her stomach muscles quiver to his touch. Heavy panting was heard as his hands roamed over her stomach and up her back. Zuko never thought he could be just as passionate as the beautiful waterbender. It was like she was giving him the confidence to be just as bold. _

_His hands went up to her bindings and groan to his delight. Her breasts were firm under the wrappings and he could feel them responding to him. Katara let out a moan of appreciation and wiggled her bottom into his lap. Zuko nuzzled into her neck as he felt himself growing harder from that action. The scent of roses danced in his nose and he became more aroused. He finally let himself admit to the truth that has been plaguing him since he met Katara. He wanted and needed her. With that realization he pulled away. Katara bit her lower lip and Zuko could see the hurt in her eyes._

"_You don't want me because I'm a peasant," Katara whispered and her head dropped down. She did not care that her robe was open._

"_No," Zuko answered softly. He closed her robe and gently pulled her off his lap. He was going to regret this. "That's not it."_

"_Then why don't you want to make love to me?" Katara snapped. Her blue eyes watered._

"_This is not making love," Zuko whispered. He could see the embarrassment on her face. "This would have been a pity fuck and you don't deserve it."_

"_A pity fuck?"_

_Zuko took a deep breath before he explained. Katara's embarrassment was quickly replaced by curiosity. She raised an eyebrow as she tucked her knees under her chin. The girl was still a virgin and she did not understand that there are many versions of sex besides love making._

"_You are feeling unsure of yourself," Zuko explained. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He will never forget how soft it was. "You want to feel wanted. This is not the way."_

"_Have you," Katara paused as she tried to form her question. A blush appeared on her face. "You know?" she nodded her head to the lower half of his body._

_That was a loaded question for Zuko._

"_Yes and no," Zuko sighed. He remembered how Mai seem to focus on the unscarred side of his face. He also remembered that he had to prove his sexuality once he heard rumors that Ozai questioned it. "Mai always pitied me. She never looked at me. I had to prove the Ozai was wrong."_

"_So you never made love?"_

"_Katara," Zuko had to smile at her innocence. Whoever she chooses to bed with her would be one lucky man. "I don't want you to make the mistakes I made and regret them."_

"_I just wanted to be loved," Katara lowered her head to her admission. "Is that wrong?"_

"_No," Zuko answered and he pulled Katara into his arms. The girl did no fight him and she snuggled closer into his arms. "You'll be loved."_

"_Can you sleep next to me?"_

"_I'll even hold you."_

****

Zuko opened his eyes and found himself back in the pub. It was one of the many memories about Katara that he has every night. They always felt real as if they had happened yesterday but Zuko knew that they happened months or a year ago. Even his sex dreams felt real and he knew that those did not happen. If they did, he would be expecting Katara sitting next to him blushing uncontrollably.

A tight frown formed on his face. Here he was having perverted thoughts while Katara is being force doing who knows what. His knuckles turned white when he balled up his fists. He should have slept with her. She should not be experiencing this abuse that she was receiving. He should have showed her what it feels like to be wanted, needed, and loved.

Love, the word bounced around his head. Zuko felt his heart stopped. He could not be in love with Katara! She is his friend, a close one at that, and certainty she does not love him. He is probably thinking that because of her situation. Besides she belongs to Aang. The frown tightened even more. Katara was nobody's property. Only she can choose who she wants to be with.

"What's making you unhappy?" a voice interrupted Zuko's thoughts.

Zuko looked up and stared at the man in front of him. The man was obvious from the Earth Kingdom with his brown eyes and hair. His long hair was pulled back at the nape and he was wearing the traditional garb of brown and green. In his hands were two pints of ale.

"I'm never happy," Zuko said dryly. The man gave a shrug and sat down. He handed Zuko a pint. Zuko raised an eyebrow at the man. "I don't drink," he lied.

"Who's the girl?" the man asked after he took a sip from his pint. He ignored Zuko's question.

"What makes you think it's a girl?" Zuko retorted. He wanted the man to go away. "Do you always hand out drinks to random people?"

"Men always go to the pub when the brood over girls," the man answered still ignoring the questions. He took another sip. "Men don't go to the pub to brood over men. If that's the case, then you are the first."

"It's a girl," Zuko answered feeling disgusted that this stranger would suggest otherwise. He grabbed the pint and took a big gulp. The familiar taste of the ale went down his throat. The taste reminded him of the times when he was on his ship.

"Name is Basha," the man smiled and stuck out his hand. "Don't drink, eh? Yeah right," he chuckled.

"Lee," Zuko answered and shook Basha's hand. "I haven't had a drink for some time."

"I take it your girl didn't like you drunk."

"She never saw me drink," Zuko said as he played with the pint in his hands. "She ran into some trouble and I'm going to help her," he lied.

"Right," Basha snorted. Zuko looked up and glared at the older man. "You are a lousy liar," he said.

Zuko's hand went straight to his dagger.

"What makes you think I'm lying?" Zuko's voice went low. His hand grasped the pearl handle.

"Where should I begin?" Basha said with a wave of his hand. "You come into the pub like you own this place, which suggest that you are from nobility. You sit down in the darkest corner with your back against the wall, which suggest you are a military man. Probably special ops. You tell me that you don't drink but you pounded that ale, which suggest that you were in the navy. The Earth Kingdom doesn't have one and you are not Water Tribe, so that makes you Fire Nation," his eyes narrowed. Zuko's throat went dry. "You say that your girl ran into trouble and I think, no believe, that you are referring to the Fire Lord's waterbender," a smirk appeared on his face. "Or am I wrong Prince Zuko?"

Before Zuko had a chance to attack the man, Basha moved quickly and pinned his hand down. Patrons in the pub turned their heads to the men and then returned to their drinks. Zuko could not move out of the grasp.

"Calm down," Basha hissed. He flashed a tile that had the white lotus stamped on it. "I'm on your side," he released his grasp. Zuko flexed his wrist to get the blood moving.

"How did you know who I am?"

"I'm a people person," Basha smiled and took a sip from his pint. "I had to make sure it was you. I was curious on who the Avatar was going to send to save the waterbender."

"Her name is Katara," Zuko sneered. He was getting tired of hearing Katara being referred as an object. "Master Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe."

"Seems like I struck a nerve," Basha chided. "I guess hearing that she's the Avatar's waterbender were all rumors."

"She belongs to no one," Zuko snapped. A huge grin appeared on Basha's face.

"Right," Basha laughed. "You keep telling yourself that."

"Why are you bothering me?"

"I'm here to help," Basha leaned back in his chair and took another sip. "You need passage to the Fire Nation and the boat leaves in an hour."

****

She saw gold eyes. Gold eyes that where piercing into her. They were nothing like the amber eyes that she remembered. Beautiful amber eyes that showed power but have kindness in them. These gold eyes have power but they also have hatred in them. She did not like the hatred in those eyes. She felt her stomach churned. Something tells her that she hated the owner of those cold gold eyes.

"Tell me waterbender," the man with the gold eyes said. There was a hint of triumph in his voice. She hated that tone as much as she hated the name. "Did you let the Avatar touch you?"

The word avatar made her heart sink. Her mind tried to think why that name sounded familiar and why she should care.

"Of course he didn't," the man chided. "He's just a little boy. He wouldn't know how to please a woman like you."

She heard a sound of liquid pouring into something. Her brain began to process why she should not take anything from the man with the gold eyes. Nothing came to her mind on why she should not take anything from the man but her mind screamed at her on not to take his offer.

"Did my traitor son touch you?" the man sneered. He turned to face her. In his hands was a gold cup. The sight of the cup gave her fear. "I know he didn't fuck you," he gave a low chuckle. "Did you pity him? Did you make him feel worthy? Did he disgust you?"

Something in his tone made her gasp. She felt her body shook in anger as she felt tears pooled in her eyes. She could not understand why she reacted this way. All she could see where the amber eyes. Amber eyes that she desperately needed. The man with the gold eyes laughed out loud.

"You cared for him," the man smirked. He thrust the cup in front of her face. "Drink waterbender."

"Yes my lord," she said as her body ignored the screaming protest in her mind.

****

It was midday when the boat docked in the Fire Nation. Zuko hid in his cabin while Basha yelled orders to the dock hands. He sat on his cot as he heard men stomp throughout the boat. He changed into the Fire Nation clothes that Basha gave him while he repeated the directions in his head. It was a little over an hour when Basha pounded on the cabin door.

"Everyone is gone," Basha said through the door. "Grab your gear."

Zuko grabbed his pack and headed up to the deck. Basha gave him a smile while he kept his eyes on the dock. Zuko noticed a few soldiers of the Fire Nation army were walking around.

"Security tightened up," Basha remarked. "The Fire Lord must be expected some kind of attack," he laughed as if it was some kind of private joke.

"He could be looking for me," Zuko replied dryly. Basha turned to the teenager and gave a frown.

"He could be just paranoid," Basha smirked then his face became serious. "Just remember to stay hidden on your way to the Capitol."

"This is not my first mission," Zuko grumbled as he adjusted his pack. "I know how to move undetected."

"So I've heard," Basha replied. "Your contact will find you once you are in the Capitol."

"Any idea of who my contact may be?"

"Nope," Basha pulled out the white lotus tile. "Your contact should flash you this tile. If they don't, then kill them."

"Thank you," Zuko said and extended his hand. "You have been a great help."

"Thanks," Basha shook the offered hand. "I'm seeing great things once this war is over," he glanced down to his clothes which where now red and black. "It would be nice to dock at a Fire Nation port and not having to change clothes."

Zuko said his goodbye and headed down the gangplank. He went down the alleys so no one can see him. He moved quickly and in a short time he was out of the port town. He swallowed the fear that was brewing in him. He cannot be weak right now. She cannot have him being weak.

_I'm coming for you_, Zuko promised. _Katara, please know that I'm coming for you._


	5. Chapter 5

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* * *

"Focus Twinkle Toes!" Toph yelled as she hurled another boulder at Aang.

Aang blocked the attacked with a wave on his arm. The boulder went over his head and landed ten feet behind him sending the new recruits running away from the benders. Toph curled her lip and slammed her foot into the ground. The loose soil vibrated and quickly became columns of dirt. Aang jumped away from each of them in a graceful manner. His foot barely touched the ground when the earth swallowed him leaving his head above ground. He struggled to get out and watched a very pissed off earthbender stomped her way towards him.

"You are not focusing!" Toph screamed. "This is supposed to be an earthbending lesson! I didn't say you could use your wussy airbending moves!"

"I'm the Avatar," Aang shouted back. "I should be able to use any element that I want!"

"I don't give a fuck!" Toph yelled. She has been swearing more since Katara was not around to scold her. "I'm your teacher and I get to tell you what to do!"

Aang gave a snarl and bent himself out of the dirt. He gave Toph a dirty look as he wiped the dirt off his shoulders, arms, and legs. He did not want to train, he wanted to find Katara.

"You know that Katara does not approve your swearing," Aang retorted.

"Is Sugar Queen here right now?" Toph mocked as she looked around. "I don't see her, so I can say anything I fucking want!"

"Yeah I bet you're glad she's gone," Aang said with bitterness.

Aang did not see it coming. Toph snapped her fingers and suddenly Aang was pinned against a palm tree with a couple of metal shields wrapped around him. Toph moved the earth around her and was up to Aang's face. He could see the anger brewing in her sightless jade eyes.

"How _dare_ you!" Toph said with her voice dangerously low. "How dare you to think like that!"

"It's the truth isn't it?" Aang spat. He struggled under his restraints. "Everyone is moving on while Katara is held up in some cell!"

Toph almost wanted to tell Aang the truth about Katara's situation.

"Is that what you really believe?" Toph whispered. Aang stared back at her and gave no response. Toph wanted to punch the boy. "Open your eyes jackass!" she shouted right into Aang's face. "While you are busy being Mr. High and Mighty, everyone else has been hurting."

"Yeah right," Aang muttered.

This time Toph punched him. She gave a satisfied smirk as her fist connected to his jaw.

"Look around," Toph said as she let her anger take the best of her. She dropped the nicknames so Aang understood that she was mad. "Hakoda hasn't been eating or sleeping. Sokka holed himself up in the war room so he won't think about her. Suki has been training nonstop with the recruits and I," her voice wavered a little bit. "I miss her. I want my sister back."

Aang was surprise that Toph would go as far as calling Katara her sister. The girls have constantly fought in their travels that he thought that they hated each other. Shame should be taking over but there was one person that kept fueling Aang's anger.

"What about Zuko?" Aang sneered. "Aren't you worried that he would just betray us again?"

"Spirits you are stupid," Toph said as she placed her head in her hand. "Zuko cares about Katara."

"How would you know?"

"Like I said before," Toph retorted. "Open. Your. Eyes! They became good friends since they returned from their trip. If you were actually around, you would have learned that they became really close before the comet. He was there when you where not!"

This time the shame had taken over. Aang hung his head down. He knew that Toph was right. He was not the only one that was suffering from Katara' imprisonment, everyone was hurting and he was too selfish to notice. He was ashamed of being called the Avatar.

"You are right Toph," Aang said sadly. "I haven't been paying attention. Everyone must hate me."

"They don't hate you," Toph said as she crossed her arms. "They don't like you right now but they don't hate you," Aang forced a laugh. Leave it to Toph to be brutally honest.

"I guess I should be training," Aang said meekly. "Toph can you get me out?"

"This is your training," Toph smiled. "You need to learn how to metalbend. So I'm going to leave you here and let you contemplate life's greatest mysteries until you bent you way out."

"You can't be serious!"

"Oh I am," Toph grinned wickedly. "You have been a jackass and this is your punishment."

"I'm going to be here all night!" Aang whined.

"That's your problem," Toph said and gave a stretch. She sniffed the air. "It smells like we are having pot roast and roasted vegetables. I better get going Twinkle Toes, see you tomorrow morning!"

The blind earthbender turned around and left the screaming airbender behind her. She barked orders to the guards that no one should let the Avatar go. She continued down the hallway and thought about Aang's anger. Toph knew that Aang is in love with Katara and she knew that Zuko is love with her also. She also knew who Katara is in love with. She was almost tempted to tell Aang that the banished prince loves Katara but she decided not to say anything. That should be said later when Aang calms down. Toph gave a nod to one of soldiers that saluted her. Her mind was filled with a lot of questions and one of the questions bothered her the most.

Was Katara the reason why Aang could not get into the Avatar State?

****

Hiking through the Fire Nation was a real eye opener for Zuko. He was shocked to see how badly his country looked from this war. He had spent the majority of his life staying behind the secure walls of the Palace and only traveled to his summer home at Ember Island. He never ventured outside the Capitol and now he wished he did. If he saw all of this, then maybe he would have been a better person, a better leader.

_Or a dead man_, Zuko's mind said as he pondered on his theory. Maybe Iroh was right; destiny is a funny thing.

Zuko avoided villages as he hiked through the Fire Nation. He knew there was a price for his head and judging by the sad state the villages were, Zuko knew that the villagers would not even think twice of turning him in. The poor villages reminded him of Yon Rah's village. They where dusty and falling apart. Zuko could not help thinking about the village that Katara saved. She told him about how disgusting the water was and how everyone was ill. He was angry to hear that the military took advantage of the people. His military and his people! Now he was outrage that this bastard he once called father is allowing this.

There will be a lot of changes for his country once he ascends the throne.

He arrived to the Capitol in the middle of the night. He was glad that it was a new moon because it made it easier for him to sneak past the border guards. Zuko could not help but smirk. Once again, his extensive training paid off.

He entered the southern gate of the Capitol which means that he was near the infamous Red Light district. He could not understand why Basha told him to enter the southern gate. The whole point of saving Katara was not getting captured and meeting someone at the most populated area at night was asking to get captured. He was supposed to meet his contact at the entrance of an alley. Zuko could hear laughter and pleasurable moans coming couple of blocks away from him.

_Whose idea was it to meet near the Red Light?_ Zuko thought as he stepped into the darkness when he heard footsteps coming closer.

"Your highness?" a feminine voice spoke behind him.

Zuko moved in a fluid motion and pulled his dagger out to attack the person. A hand grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back. The cold brick wall met Zuko's face. His arm jerked in pain as his attacker twisted it some more. Another hand stuck something in front of his face.

It was a white lotus tile. Zuko instantly loosen up.

"Please forgive me," the voice spoke quietly. "My employer said that I have to use necessary force when needed."

Zuko felt his attacker let go of his arm. He pried himself off the wall and turned around. Standing in front of him was a girl about his age. She was the same height as him and her black hair was pulled into a braid.

"Was it necessary to push my face into the wall?" Zuko grumbled as he rubbed his jaw.

"You attacked me," the girl retorted. Her smile quickly disappeared. "We must be going. My employer does not want to keep waiting."

The girl moved quickly and Zuko practically had to run down the alley to keep up with her. They stop at the dead end and the girl began moving her hand around the wall as if she was looking for something. She pushed a brick in and the wall opened up. She took Zuko's hand and dragged him through the open passageway. The door shut behind Zuko and he was engulfed in darkness. He heard snapping of the fingers and the corridor lit up. The girl smiled and continued walking down the path. The path twisted and turned until it ended at a wooden door. The girl pushed the door opened and Zuko walked into a study.

"Welcome to my manor, Prince Zuko," a sultry voice said. "I have been expecting you."

****

Madame Vianne was proud of her establishment. She ran the most spectacular pleasure's parlor in the Capitol. Her clients ranged from members of the court to high ranking military men. She even supplied services to the royal family. She catered to the fantasies of her clients as long as her employees do not get hurt. Vianne had ended some contracts with some of her clients but she never worried about losing customers. She knew that the Capitol would not function without her.

Besides selling pleasure to the wealthiest men and women in the Capitol, she also keeps secrets and she knew a lot of them. Elections sway because of her. She loved secrets and she was staring at the biggest secret of all, the banished prince of the Fire Nation.

"Please sit down," Vianne pointed to a plush armchair to the teenager. She held back the smile as she watched Zuko overcome his shock and took the offered seat. It was obvious that the banished prince was uncomfortable. "Would you like something to drink? I have tea or bourbon."

"Tea," Zuko said in a stern voice. The girl that led him down the passageway handed him a teacup. Zuko took a sip and hid a grimace. It was jasmine, his uncle's favorite.

"I see that you met my assistant, Esei," Vianne said and pointed to the girl. Esei gave a big smile and waved at Zuko. He only gave her a nod.

"I have," Zuko replied and continued to drink his tea.

"Then let's discuss tomorrow's events," Vianne said and folded her hands over her desk.

"Excuse me?" Zuko asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm planning to do this tonight."

"How?" Vianne retorted. She slowly stood up and began walking around her desk. "You can't be planning of taking Lady Katara right under the Fire Lord's nose, literally," she saw a hint of smile from Zuko when she said Katara's name.

"The thought has crossed my mind," Zuko replied smoothly. He placed the teacup on the end table. "I'm not letting Katara wait another day."

"But you have too," Vianne said as she stood in front of Zuko. Her backside leaned against the edge of the desk. "Some of my girls have been working very hard to get information on Lady Katara."

"I bet they have," Zuko smirked. A low chuckle escaped from his lips. "I'm sorry but I have to ask. How are you associated with the White Lotus?"

"I'm a member," Vianne smiled. "But I have serviced a couple of associates and a grandmaster."

"My Uncle was here?" Zuko said sounding rather disgusted.

"Oh Iroh," Vianne giggled. "He was one of my favorite clients. I thought he will be visiting when you returned into the Fire Lord's good graces."

Vianne laughed even harder when she saw the look on the teenager's face. It was a mixture of pure horror and sadness. She wanted to tease him more by talking about certain techniques that the Dragon of the West had obtained but she decided to drop it. They have to talk about the rescue mission.

"It is better to rescue Lady Katara during midday," Vianne said as she returned to the topic.

"Makes sense," Zuko said looking relieved that they returned to the topic. "Ozai would be at meetings."

"You and Lady Katara would return here."

"Why? The last place that Katara needs to be in is a whorehouse."

"This is where my experience takes over," Vianne replied ignoring Zuko's snarky remark. "What my girls told me, Lady Katara is being drugged. I have dealt with former clients drugging my girls."

"That explains why I haven't heard anything about Katara fighting back," Zuko grumbled as he tried to control the anger that was brewing in him. His hands gripped the armrests and the chair began to smoke. Vianne glared at him and the chair stopped smoking. "Sorry," he said meekly.

"Not only do I have experience in drugged girls," Vianne started trying to figure out how to word the next sentence without losing her favorite armchair. "I have experience in handling a flush."

"A flush? What's a flush?"

"It's a procedure that helps the body to flush out," Vianne gave a pause. "Unwanted elements."

Her favorite armchair erupted in flames.

****

Zuko had no clue what time it was or how long he has been awake. He tossed and turned in the large bed but he could not get any sleep. He tried meditating but the candles quickly melted to nothing. He settled on practicing with his dual swords and after what seemed like hours his body finally tired. He flopped on the large bed but sleep did not come. It was like his body was telling him that Katara was blocks away and there was nothing he could do right now.

He slowly sat up and stared at his room. It was furnished in rich velvets and dark woods and the color palate was various shades of red, black, and gold. It was very ornate for Zuko's taste but he had to admit that the room was nice. He could understand why this brothel was popular with the elite.

The room was missing one element that Zuko desperately needed, a window. He could not believe that something so simple was so missed. A window could show him if it was day or night. A window could help him with the time by looking at the position of the sun. A window could help him escape and not follow Vianne's orders. He really needed a window.

The room may lack a window but it does have one great feature. The room was soundproof. The reason behind the soundproof rooms was for confidentially. There is a huge difference of knowing someone going to a brothel and hearing someone in a brothel. The nobles can be loud as they want and not have to hear their neighbor's screams. While showing Zuko his room, Esei happily explained to him that sometimes husbands and wives are visiting at the same time without the other knowing. He slammed the door on the poor girl's face when she asked if he needed company for the night.

He could not stop his mind flashing bright blue eyes as he grumbled about how overly helpful Esei was.

Knowing that sleep was not going to come, Zuko stared at the ceiling rafters as he thought about the layout of the Palace. He knew that some of the tunnels where blocked or heavily guarded because Ozai would be that paranoid. He just hoped that Ozai would be paranoid and conceited enough to have only the exit tunnels leading from his bedchambers, throne room, and study blocked or guarded. Zuko raised his head when he heard a knock at his door.

"It's time," a muffled voice said.


	6. Chapter 6

**Yeah I hit fifty reviews! Thanks for the great reviews! A big THANKS go out to Saucbender for being my beta/editor/thesaurus!**

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* * *

The Red Light district butts up to the southern wall of the Palace. With temptation only a walk away, guards constantly leave their posts, leaving the southern wall unprotected. Wearing cloaks with hoods, Esei and Zuko slowly walked up to the tall wall while making sure that no one was around. Zuko took off his cloak and tossed it to Esei. He adjusted his dual swords on his back and checked to see if his dagger was still at his waist.

"I'm surprise that no one stopped us," Zuko said as he gave a stretch. "You would think that two hooded figures running around the Capitol in broad daylight would raise suspicions."

"Everyone knows that Madame Vianne's employees wear hoods," Esei said as she folded Zuko's cloak. "You would be surprised what one elected official would do to another official's favorite if she was spotted on the street."

"I can only imagine."

Esei only nodded and looked at the wall. Her pale yellow eyes scanned the menacing stone wall trying to figure out how the banished prince would enter without being noticed. Zuko gave a snort when he saw the confusion on the girl's face.

"See those vines over there," Zuko pointed to a group of vines running up the wall. Esei nodded her head. "There's a passageway behind it. It leads to the Fire Lady's bedchambers."

"How do you know it's not guarded?"

"I don't," Zuko gave a tight frown. "But it's the only option."

Without another word, Zuko headed to the vines. His hands went into them and he felt a rusty handle. Giving a push, he opened the door, letting out a loud shriek. Zuko stopped and Esei scanned the area to see if anyone heard. Gesturing that the coast was clear, Zuko slid into the vines leaving Esei outside. He shut the door and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He took a deep breath before he started to walk towards the abandon bedchamber.

_I'm coming._

****

It has been a long time since Zuko has been in his mother's bedchamber. White sheets covered the furniture and dust was everywhere. It looked like no one has been in the room since his mother disappeared. Holding back a sneeze, Zuko slowly headed to the gilded full length mirror. His finger pushed in the carved dragon design located on the upper left corner of the frame and the door opened forward without making a noise. He entered the tunnel and the door closed behind him. Zuko was surprise to see that the mirror was actually a one way window. He could see everything in his mother's bedchamber.

_That's how Ozai controlled mother,_ Zuko thought grimly.

He crept through the passageway. His feet tapped the floor so he would not trip on something and his hands pressed against the walls feeling his way around. He did not want to make a flame because he was afraid that he would be caught. He was too close to screw up now.

The exit to the Fire Lord's bedchamber was behind the armoire. The armoire was located in front of the bed. Zuko placed his ear to the door and listened for anyone inside. Since it was midday, Ozai should be in meetings.

Sadly, he was wrong.

Amber eyes went wide and then narrowed. Sounds of grunts and moans vibrated through the door and into his ear. Zuko's body shook in anger and his hand went to one of his swords. The bastard deserved to die and cutting his head off was a pretty good idea. Zuko was about to enter the bedchamber when he heard a voice that made his blood go cold.

"Is my Lord pleased?"

It sounded like Katara but at the same time it did not. She sounded distant and her confidant tone was missing. Zuko closed his eyes to keep the tears back. This could not be the fierce waterbender that he was in love with.

_Love._ That is the second time that word popped in his head.

"You always please me, waterbender," Ozai said through the door. Zuko could hear the smirk in his voice. He fought back the bile that came up. There was a sound of robes being put on. "I'll return tonight."

"I'll be waiting, my Lord."

Zuko listen to the sound of Ozai's footsteps leaving the room. He waited for a few minutes before he pushed the door opened. His hand was at the hilt of his sword just in case he needed to attack as he walked in.

His eyes immediately focused on the wood carving hanging over the bed.

Katara was lying on her back in the bed. Her head dangled over the edge and her brown hair pooled on the floor. Her knees were bent and one leg crossed the other. She was completely nude. Katara tilted her head as she focused on Zuko.

"Do I know you?" Katara asked as she rolled on to her stomach.

Zuko sighed in relief that her breasts were covered.

"Katara," Zuko choked out. His shock replaced his anger. "It's me, Zuko."

"Who's Katara?" Katara asked and sat up. Her breasts were covered by her long hair but everything else was not. Zuko focused on the wood carving again. "I'm the waterbender."

Those words made Zuko forget about the wood craving. He slowly walked up to Katara and sat on the bed. He reached out to touch her but withdrew. Katara tilted her head to the side and continued to stare at him.

_What did he do to you? _Zuko thought sadly as he stared into Katara's eyes. The blue eyes held no life and her pupils where dilated. _Where did you go?_

Suddenly Katara grabbed his face which made him flinch. Her usually warm hands were cold. Her touch was not the touch that he remembered. This touch seemed foreign.

"Amber eyes," Katara said, studying his face. She bit her lower lip as if that was important. "We have met before." It sounded like she was explaining it to Zuko.

"Yes," Zuko said slowly. He thought he saw her pupils focus. He pulled her hands off of his face and held them. "We have met. We are friends."

"No," Katara shook her head. "Something else," it appeared that Katara was going to say something but her face relaxed. "Was there something my Lord needed?"

"Yes," Zuko said as he gently pulled Katara off the bed. "We must be going."

"Going," Katara repeated and she tapped her chin. She looked up again and this time Zuko saw it. A flicker of life behind those dull blue eyes. "Zuko?" she said. A smile grew on her face. "I know of a Zuko! He had amber eyes like yours but they were beautiful. Always angry," she let out an unnaturally girlish giggle. "Good kisser."

Zuko felt a blush creeping across his face. This was the most uncomfortable conversation he ever had and it did not help that Katara was standing in the nude. He would rather lose to an Agni Kai.

"We must go now," Zuko whispered as he dragged Katara towards the armoire.

He took off his outer tunic and wrapped it around Katara. She gave it a funny look as he tied a knot into the belt. The tunic was big on her and went down to her thighs. Zuko could not help but feel proud that Katara looked beautiful in his clothes. He took her hand but Katara pulled back. She looked at his wrist while Zuko prayed that no one came into the room.

"I remembered a necklace," Katara said softly as her finger traced the inside of his wrist. "It was wrapped around your wrist," she raised her head. "Is that important?"

"Yes," Zuko said softly. He pulled Katara closer to his body. She smelled like the expensive oils and perfumes that Ozai preferred. She did not smell like roses. "I'll tell you more, once we get out."

Zuko pushed Katara into the tunnel and quickly shut the armoire door. He took her hand and dragged her down the tunnel and back to his mother's old room. He clamped his hand over her mouth before the dust could make her sneeze. A few minutes later, Zuko came through the vines holding on to Katara's hand.

"That's her?" Esei asked as she stared at the beautiful waterbender. She understood why the banished prince was in love with her.

"That's her," Zuko replied and took the extra cloak out of Esei's hands. He placed it over Katara's shoulders and covered her with the hood. "Don't take that off," he ordered her.

Katara just nodded her head and watched Zuko put on his cloak with fascinated eyes. Esei linked her arm around Katara's and began guiding her back to the manor. Zuko walked a few feet behind them to make sure that they were not being followed.

****

"Amazing," Vianne said as she checked Katara. "She has been fighting the drug."

"Do you know what it is?" Zuko asked from the other side of the room. He let Vianne and her girls examine Katara on one condition; he had to be in the room with her.

"Its belladonna," Vianne answered. Her hands moved to Katara's stomach and gave a push. Katara giggled at the action. "It's a predatory drug. The Fire Lord must have been giving her the concentrated formula. It's a miracle that she is alive."

"What do you mean?"

"A former client gave a concentrated dose to one of my girls," Vianne growled. "Poor thing went crazy and killed herself."

"Is there anything you can give her?" Zuko asked. He wished he killed Ozai when he had the chance.

"No," Vianne said. "She has to ride this out. It should go quickly since she has been fighting it."

"Will she remember?"

"I don't know. Belladonna has been known to cause memory loss. You said that she said your name and remembered a necklace, so she might not have lost her previous memories. Hopefully she won't remember this ordeal."

"Hopefully," Zuko said dryly.

Vianne gave the banished prince a sad smile. The boy looked absolutely helpless. He walked towards the bed and sat down. Katara gave him a lopsided grin and took his hand. She played with his fingers while Zuko stared at her. Vianne's heart went out to the firebender. He loved her but there was nothing he could do for her now.

"Zuko," Katara repeated the name. Her eyes lit up when she made a connection. "Wasn't he the angry jerk that chased me?"

Vianne let out a laugh while Zuko grumbled. Esei appeared next to Vianne and handed her a goblet. Zuko saw the goblet and raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"She must drink this," Vianne said and walked up to Katara. "It's for the flush."

"She has suffered enough," Zuko growled. Katara stopped playing with his fingers and stared at the goblet.

"That cup's not gold," Katara whispered looking relieved. "The gold cup is bad."

"She has to," Vianne replied as she glared at Zuko. "Unless you want a half sibling," Zuko curled his lip at her. "We will take good care of her," she promised.

"_I_ will take care of her," Zuko corrected Vianne.

"The flush is a painful experience," Vianne tried to reason. "You don't want to be here."

"I said I'll take care of her," Zuko said slowly. "I'm not leaving her side. Just tell me what to do."

"Fine," Vianne said knowing that she lost this battle. She handed the goblet to Katara. "You need to drink this."

Katara eyed the goblet and then looked at Zuko. He gave a nod and Katara took the cup. The liquid was bitter and it made her gag. Katara forced herself to drink all the contents. She felt herself getting sleepy and buried herself in the soft pillows. Zuko looked at Vianne with alarm.

"Let her sleep for now," Vianne said answering the unspoken question. "She will be up later," she gestured Zuko to follow her to the other side of the room. "Now let me tell you what to expect."

****

Ozai walked back to his bedchambers while his council chattered behind him. He did not listen to a word that they were saying. The only thing that was on his mind was the beautiful peasant lying naked in his bed. He felt himself getting aroused just thinking about her.

He still remembered how she reacted when she came to his throne room. The guards held her arms and she just stood there with her nose up. He laughed at her for thinking that she was better than him, a mere peasant! Ozai could smell the fear from the girl and he knew that she was expecting death like his failure of a daughter but one look of her beauty gave him another idea. He wanted a conquest. He wanted a prize for his work in winning this war. He wanted to brag to the world how powerful he was. The Avatar's whore was just what he was looking for.

To this day Ozai wished he did not have to drug her but he had heard about her powers. He would loved to hear her screaming, begging, and pleading for him to stop or kill her. But he enjoyed her just a much when she was drugged. Ozai would admit that he had not been giving her recommended daily dose of the drug. He loved to taunt her and the reactions were priceless. One day it would be about the Avatar, the next it would be about her brother, and then one day Ozai hit a nerve when he mentioned his pathetic son. The look she gave was like she lost someone she had loved. That fueled his fire and he made sure from then on that she was almost lucid when he mentioned that name.

Today was one of those days. It has been two days since she last took the drug. He wanted the waterbender to know what was going on. He was going to tell her about the pathetic military that was growing in Ba Sing Se. He was going to mention the invasion that his military was planning. He was going to bring up the fact that he was going to kill his waste of a son in front of her.

Ozai's thin lips curled up in a sinister smile. He could not wait to see her reaction. He imagined it would be a mixture of horror and fear. She would cry, of course. Probably plead. His smile became an evil grin. The he would fuck her like the savage she was. Hopefully she would scream.

"Gentlemen," Ozai said to his chattering council. The group stopped their talking and quickly bowed their heads. Out of respect or fear, he did not know, but he did not care either. "I'm retiring for the night. All talks will continue tomorrow."

The council gave their bows and hastily left the hallway. Ozai laughed as he watched his council scurry away. He swung open the heavy doors and quickly saw that his bed was empty.

His prize was missing.

Gold eyes narrowed as he stared into the room. They glanced at the closed balcony doors and he knew that she did not escape through the balcony. His archers would have spotted her. She did not walk into the hallway because his guards would have captured her. The waterbender was still had the drug in her system and she did not use her powers because the pitcher was still filled with water. Ozai stared at the armoire. She did not know about the passageway to the Fire Lady's bedchamber.

In fact, no one knew about the passageway except for two people. One was already dead and the other one was hopefully dead, unless…

_The little shit wouldn't dare!_ Ozai thought as he rushed to the armoire.

He ripped the door open and ran down the tunnel. Anger was boiling over by the time he reached the end. Fire came out of his hands and the glass melted from the extreme heat. He stepped into a room that he had not been in for nearly a decade. The dust did not bother him as he looked at the ground.

There were footprints stamped into the dust. One pair was petite and barefoot and the other was large and wearing boots.

"_Zuko_," Ozai hissed. He turned around and stormed down the tunnel. He was barely out of the passageway when he roared for his guards. They came running into the bedchamber and stood in attention. "Close the gates! Make sure that no one leaves or enters the Capitol! Talk to the border patrol to see if they saw anything suspicious."

"Yes, my Lord," the guards answered.

"Send a hawk for Admiral Turin," Ozai ordered. "I want him here immediately!"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Have the men searched the Capitol in the morning," Ozai yelled as he paced in his room. "Search every noble house, whorehouse, and warehouse. Search everywhere!"

"What are we looking for my Lord?" one guard boldly asked.

"My waterbender!" Ozai bellowed and shot flames at the wood carving hanging over his bed. He glared at the guards. "Dismissed!"

The guards scampered out of the bedchamber to give out the orders. Ozai rubbed his temples and sat down in his chair. He was not expecting this. He was not expecting his weakling son to be so bold. The sinister smile returned to his face. Ozai would get them and he will make sure that they paid dearly.

_You haven't outsmarted me, brat_, Ozai thought. _I will catch up to you and before you know it, you will lose._


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy New Year! As a special treat, I'm posting four chapters! Yeah!**

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**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

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The flush was the most disgusting thing that Zuko ever experienced in his life. He had seen men lose their limbs while working on his ship. He had seen severely injured soldiers from the battlefield. He even seen death, had even been responsible for some. But nothing he had seen could have prepared him for this. The flush was disturbing and heart wrenching.

It started out just how Vianne said; the flush made Katara hot, but Zuko did not expect her to get this bad. Her body temperature began to rise in the early evening. If felt like a fever, so Zuko dabbed her forehead with a cool cloth. Katara tossed and turned in the bed as she began to murmur things under her breath. She begged and pleaded to whomever that was harming her. Zuko gently held her down and whispered that everything was going to be okay. He wondered if he acted the same way when he went through his metamorphosis. The wet cloth was not keeping Katara's forehead cool. Zuko requested ice and was surprised to see two servants entering the room with a large copper bathtub. One of the servants told him that he would need it later.

_For what?_ Zuko thought to himself as he returned to cooling Katara's forehead. A year ago he would be disgusted with himself for touching this peasant. Now, he scolded himself for being a selfish asshole.

While the copper tub was slowly being filled with ice and water, Katara managed to kick her covers off. Zuko thanked the spirits that Katara kept his outer tunic on. He did not want the servants that were bringing up the buckets of ice and water to see her naked. He was making sure that no man would ever see her in the nude.

Sadly, the spirits thought it would be funny to maker her sweat and the tunic clung to every curve of her body. Zuko cursed his hormones for reacting to the situation and patiently waited for the servants to leave. Once they were gone, he slowly stood up and painfully walked to the tub. He plucked a couple of floating ice cubes and dropped them in the front of his pants. He gave a triumphant smirk as he felt his body reacting to the cold. He walked back to the bed and check Katara's forehead. She was getting warmer, but the thrashing had stopped. Zuko sat in the chair and placed his feet on the bed. He closed his eyes, planning to rest for an hour and then check on her.

****

The whimpering woke Zuko up. His feet slammed to the floor while he sat up straight. Amber eyes scanned the dark room until he realized that he was in a brothel. It took him a second to remember why he was in a brothel, _Katara_.

He heard the whimpering again and rushed to the bed, snapping his fingers so that a candle lit up on the nightstand. The warm glow showed that Katara was not moving but her body was drenched with sweat. Her hair was matted to her face and when Zuko tried to brush the hair away, he pulled his hand back with a hiss.

It felt like he put his hand into a roaring fire.

Fear began to grow in him as he reached for the cloth that was submerged in a bowl of water. When the wet cloth touched her forehead it erupted into steam. Katara's whimpering became louder.

"Katara?" Zuko whispered as he tried to keep the panic down. "Katara wake up!"

Blue eyes snapped open, and Zuko was shocked to see how blue they were. Katara darted her eyes around as fear build in them. They quickly stopped on Zuko and he saw the relief flowing through them.

"Zuko?" Katara said hoarsely. She tried to reach for him but her face scrunched up in pain. She clutched her stomach. "What's wrong with me?" she gasped.

"You're going through a flush," Zuko hastily explained. Katara open her mouth to speak but made a pained cry instead. Zuko tried dabbing her with the cloth but that caused more pain.

"That hurts!" Katara wailed as she tried to push away. The movement caused her to clutch her stomach again. "My skin is burning! Make it stop! Please make it stop!"

Katara's hysteria was putting Zuko into tears. He needed to help her. His eyes fell on the copper bathtub and remembered what the servant had told him. Taking a deep breath, Zuko scooped Katara up in his arms. He bit back the yell when his arms touched her skin. It felt like he was holding a hot poker. He quickly walked to the tub and stepped into it. The cold water hit his calves.

"Katara," Zuko whispered. "I'm going to put you in the water."

"No!" Katara pleaded. "The water hurts!"

"You need to cool down. I'll even hold you."

"No!"

"Love," Zuko reasoned not realizing that he called her that. "You can bite into my shoulder."

"I'll hurt you!"

"I don't care," Zuko replied in a low voice.

He took it as an agreement when Katara buried her head into his shoulder. Katara stifled a cry when her toes touched the water. Zuko could hear the hissing sound of skin touching water and saw the steam rising in the air. Not giving Katara a chance to change her mind, Zuko dropped his body into the water and slammed his back into the tub's wall. Steam quickly filled up the room and Katara clamped her teeth into his shoulder. Zuko bit the side of his mouth to keep from screaming. He knew Katara broke the skin from her bite. Within seconds her body temperature dropped, and Zuko was alarmed that it was falling too fast. That concern quickly disappeared when Katara let out a cry.

"My stomach!" Katara gasped. She quickly adjusted herself and placed her back against Zuko's chest. "It feels like something is ripping it apart!"

Zuko wrapped his arms around her as she continued to whimper. Her hands slid on top of his and gave a squeeze as she made a loud grunt. He smelled something metallic. A flick of the wrist made the scones lit up.

"What the fuck?" Zuko exclaimed as he watched the water turned pink, then rust, and finally a red. His heart dropped when he realized what it was. It was blood and it was coming from Katara.

Vianne had told him that there was going to be blood, but Zuko was not expecting so much. He wanted to get out of the tub. He wanted to find help. Most of all, he wanted to throw up. His mind changed when Katara began gripping his hands and let out a scream. He needed to be here. She needed him.

Katara let out a wail as the flush continued on. Her body shook from the pain. Zuko rested Katara's head on his chest and placed his chin on her. He whispered encouragements and promises while he stroked her hair. Katara clung onto his shirt and sobbed. The water continued to turn into a deeper red.

Zuko could not imagine how painful it was no matter how hard he tried. He just prayed that Katara would never go through this again and decided that Ozai should be ripped limb from limb. He did not know how long it had been, but he noticed that the water stopped changing colors and Katara was not crying. His fingers touched her cheek and gasped at how cold she was. He quickly pulled her chin up to see her face. Her eyes were closed and her lips were blue.

"Katara?" Zuko quickly checked her pulse. There was a heartbeat. "Come on Love!" In his panic, he ignored the new name. "Wake up!"

Somehow he managed to get out of the tub with Katara in his arms. He placed the waterbender on the bed and wrapped her in blankets, but her lips were still blue and she was not waking up. Remembering his training from the military, Zuko quickly undressed himself until he was in his shorts. He climbed onto the bed and leaned against the headboard, before carefully unwrapping the blankets and pulled Katara between his legs. He made sure that her head snuggled up to his neck and covered them both. Zuko undid the knot and pulled the bloody tunic off of her shoulders and tossed it over to the side of the bed. He wrapped his legs around hers and secured his arms around her stomach. Zuko buried his head in her shoulder and began to think about the time he spent in the cooler at Boiling Rock.

_That was easy. This is pure hell._

****

_The sound of the horn echoing through the Palace made Katara stopped healing Zuko. She whipped her head around and stared at the laughing Azula. _

"_The Avatar lost Water Bitch," Azula lunged but her restraints held her back. "Father won the war."_

"_Shut up," Katara spat and returned to Zuko. His breathing was uneven and she still smelled the burnt flesh from the attack._

"_Oh Zuzu," Azula sneered at Zuko. "You better just die now. Father is planning to kill you once he returns," she stopped talking and tilted her head to the right. "Do you hear that Water Bitch? That's the sound of our army coming back. Father is coming. Maybe he would spare your life if you kill the traitor now."_

"_I said shut up!" Katara screamed and closed her eyes. She did not want to cry in front of that heartless bitch. _

_Katara knew that Azula was right. Ozai is going to kill Zuko and then he was going to kill her. She felt the vibrations of metal boots under her. They had to get out of here._

"_Appa!" Katara yelled and began looking around. She needed to figure out how to get Zuko into the saddle before it was too late. Her eyes landed on the grates that she was on earlier. She could hear the water running under them. Hoisting Zuko up, she dragged him towards the grates. "Appa!" she screamed._

_The vibrations where coming closer. The army was in the Palace now. Katara knew that it would be a matter of minutes before they entered the courtyard. Sadly she realized how bad the situation was. Even is she managed to get Zuko and herself into the saddle, there was still an army ready to attack, an army full of firebenders that were still feeling the after-effects of the comet. She knew that someone has to stay behind. _

_Katara knew that she could not defend them in the air. She did not have enough water to bend and the air was too dry to pull the water out. Her only option was to stay behind and make sure that Appa and Zuko got away safely._

_She made her choice. _

"_Appa!" Katara yelled when she saw the flying beast. She waved her hands in the air and the bison landed in front of her. _

_She checked on Zuko one last time. He was gravely injured but she had been able to slow down the bleeding. Her fingers brushed his hair away from his face. There was so much to she wanted to tell him and now it was too late. Katara unclasped her necklace and wrapped the black leather cord around Zuko's arm, the pendant rested comfortably on the inside of his wrist. She pressed her lips onto the stone and skin. She would never forget his smell, like the woods._

"_I love you," Katara whispered and touched his scarred face. "I want you to know that."_

_She could hear the sound of metal hitting marble. The army was close; she had to move before it was too late. Getting to her feet, she waved her arms in a graceful manner and the water began rising through the grates. She pulled the water around Zuko and raised her arms in the air. The water followed the gesture and began rising. Katara watched the water place Zuko in the saddle and quickly pulled it away, returning it to the grates. Then she ran in front of the bison and stared into the beast's big grey eyes._

"_Go to Ba Sing Se," Katara ordered. "Don't stop until you reach Ba Sing Se." She did not know if Appa understood her but the look in his eyes told her that he did. "Go, Appa. Yip yip!"_

_The army entered the courtyard and stopped in front of the waterbender and the flying bison. Katara pulled the water out of the grates and it started to swirl around her body. Azula started screaming at the soldiers._

"_Kill her!" Azula screamed. "She is letting the traitor get away!"_

_The soldiers went into an attack position and fired the first shot. Katara bent the water into an ice shield and the fireballs made a hissing sound as they hit. She knew she could not hold this any longer._

"_Ba Sing Se Appa, now!" Katara yelled. The bison refused to move. Forming a water whip in one hand, Katara smacked Appa in his hindquarters. "Yip yip!"_

_Appa growled and took off. Half of the soldiers began firing at the bison while the other half began attacking Katara. The ice shield broke apart and became tiny little daggers. With a point of a finger, the daggers hurled themselves at the army. She smirked when she heard the screaming and saw a couple of the soldiers dropping to the ground. It was the first time that she did not feel remorse when she took a life. She figured if she was going to die, then she might as well take as many firebenders with her to Hell. _

_She continued to fight until she knew that Appa was a safe distance from the Palace. She spun the water around her and created a large whip, which swung in the air and knocked a large group of soldiers to the ground. Her hands went down and the water dropped to the ground making a loud splashing noise. Then she dropped to her knees and bowed, her nose touched the cold ground._

"_I surrender," Katara said without raising her head. "I humbling accept defeat in front of your lord." She made sure that they heard the venom and sarcasm in her voice._

_She stayed in her bowing position for a few minutes longer. She could imagine the soldiers looking at each other and scratching their heads as how to approach the waterbender. Katara did not blame them, all she had to do was raise her hands and the water would come alive again. She felt two hands grabbing her arms and pulling her to her feet. She did not wince in pain because she did not want the soldiers to think she was weak. Katara heard screaming and turned her head toward the sound. Two soldiers were holding Azula._

"_Take the waterbender to a cell," a soldier ordered as he glared at her. Katara instantly flinched. She hated how that word sounded unholy. Her blue eyes glared the man down. "She would stay there until further notice."_

_The soldiers began dragging Katara towards the Palace. She turned her head to the sky for one last time. She stared at a dot that she hoped was Appa and Zuko._

"_Goodbye," Katara whispered to the dot. _

****

The scent of the woods woke Katara up from her sleep. It was a comforting scent. She snuggled closer to get more of the scent and was surprise to feel a hard muscular object against her head. She raised her head to look around and only saw blackness. The object behind her was snoring softly. The sound tugged at her heart.

_I must be dreaming_, Katara thought sadly. _Zuko is not here._

She leaned against the object and placed her head on it. She could hear a strong heartbeat. A blush formed across her face. The object was actually a man, a topless man. Katara wanted to pull away but the scent was bringing her closer. Her fingers lightly followed the muscle definition of the chest. Her fingers brushed against a scab. Curious, she traced its outline. It was star shaped, similar to Aang's back when Azula struck him with lightning.

Azula. Lightning. Scar. _Zuko_.

Katara quickly sat up and the blankets slid down her body. She pulled the blankets up and her hand touched naked flesh. She was naked. The man that smelled, sound, and was scarred like Zuko was probably naked also.

_This is a dream_, Katara thought. _I'm dreaming about Zuko. My mind has finally cracked!_

Katara decided to go with the dream instead of waking Zuko up. She was afraid that if she woke him up, then she will wake up to the reality. They have lost the war, and she was a prisoner at the Palace.

Pulling the blankets around her shoulders, Katara leaned into Zuko's chest. She heard mumbling and two strong hands wrapped around her. She placed a light kiss on the scar on his chest and she felt his body twitch from the action. She closed her eyes and let the smell of woods overtake her senses.

She prayed to the spirits that she would never wake up from this dream.


	8. Chapter 8

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**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Sokka frowned at the parchment in front of him. It was a list of executions that happened during the week in the Fire Nation. His hands slowly broke the seal on the parchment. He hated getting this list. He hated to tell the waiting families and friends about their loved ones. He hated the tears and seeing another name added on a wall that became an ever growing memorial. Some of the names were prisoners of wars. Others were names of traitors of the Fire Nation. A small number of names belong to the innocents, victims of Ozai's paranoia.

Blue eyes scanned the names as he thought about the times he told his friends about their lost. Teo knew that his father was dead but he still cried when Sokka told him. Toph held a memorial at the Earth Rumble arena when she heard about the Boulder and Hippo. Suki held a private ceremony to her fallen Kyoshi Warriors. Haru locked himself in his room when he heard about his father. Sokka had to order the guards to kick the door open because he was afraid that Haru would hurt himself. Hakoda took the responsibility of sending a letter to the South Pole alerting the tribe that half of the warriors were dead.

The Duke was the hardest to tell. Sokka did not know how to tell a nine year old that his adopted brother was dead. The poor child had learned about Jet's fate and adding Pipsqueak to the list was too much. Huge tears streaked The Duke's face as Sokka slowly explained about Pipsqueak. Suki held the child and rocked him. Since then, they had welcomed the boy to sleep in their room. Sokka had told Suki that they should adopt The Duke once they get married. Surprised by the comment, Suki asked if that was a proposal. Sokka smiled and Suki happily accepted.

Newly engaged and now a father, Sokka should be happy with the events in his life but he was not. He would be happy once they win this war, his sister was safe and home, and the executions stopped. Then he would focus his life with a beautiful wife, a curious son and the prospect of a large family.

Two names on the list brought Sokka out his thoughts. He quickly read the names and then he read them again slowly. He let out a curse and slammed his hand down on the desk. His action surprised the soldier standing in front of his desk.

"General?" the soldier asked. Sokka looked at the young man. The soldier was the same age as him. "Is?" the soldier could not finish the question.

"They are not on the list," Sokka responded and gave the parchment to the soldier. "I want these two names to be put on the wall. Send hawks to a family in Omashu and a traveling circus."

"I don't understand sir," the soldier said as he looked at the names. "They are Fire Nation. They were associates of Princess Azula."

"They sacrifice their lives to save Prince Zuko, Warrior Suki, my father, and me," Sokka explained sounding cross. "Mai and Ty Lee were heroes. I do not want to hear their names as curses."

"Yes, General," the soldier saluted and left the room.

Sokka fell into his chair and rubbed his temples. He did not know how Zuko would react to Mai's and Ty Lee's execution. Zuko loved Mai but it turned out that he loved her as a friend. He knew that Zuko blamed himself for leaving the girls behind at Boiling Rock. He figured that the best way to tell the firebender was in a desert. Nothing would catch on fire if Zuko erupted in flames.

_Hopefully Katara would be there to calm him down_, Sokka thought and looked out of the window. He smiled when he saw Suki teaching The Duke how to block.

****

"Beautiful," Cree said as he placed his hands on his waist. A smile crept on his face when he stared at the last airship. "Absolutely beautiful."

"Eh," Toph said with a shrug. "I've seen bigger."

"Really? When?" Cree turned his attention to Toph. The blind earthbender gave him a cheeky grin and pointed at her eyes. A blush appeared on his face. "Oh. Nevermind."

"You are easier than Snoozles, Cappie," Toph laughed and punch Cree in the side. The captain gave out a yelp and rubbed his arm. Toph scoffed at him. "It's an affectionate punch. It means I like you."

"I feel sorry for the poor bastard that falls in love with you," Cree mumbled and returned his attention back to the giant airship. "So how did you, Warrior Suki, and the General get this magnificent machine?"

"Stole it," Toph replied and cracked her knuckles. "We snuck in, overtook it, dumped the crew in the water, and rammed it into the fleet. I think."

"You think?"

"This ship might be the one that Warrior Princess took. I can't remember. I was dangling over a ledge."

"I see," Cree said and gave a smile. His smile faded when he saw the frown that was gracing Toph's face. "Are you not confident of the General's plan?"

"I'm very confident of Snoozles's plan," Toph answered. Her voice was strong and proud but the frown was still on her face.

"Are you concern about Prince Zuko and Master Katara?"

"Snoozles told me that Sparky was a ninja and Sugar Queen is pretty bitchy when she's pissed off," Toph answered with a smirk on her face. Cree let out a loud groan. Leave it to Sokka to tell everyone that Zuko was a ninja.

"Prince Zuko is not a ninja. He just has a lot of _experience_," Cree corrected. "If your friends are not the concern, then why are you upset?"

"Geez," Toph snorted and glared at Cree. "You're pretty good at reading emotions. Are you sure you're not an earthbender?"

"I'm pretty sure," Cree said and folded his arms. "Lady Bei Fong, please tell me what's on your mind."

Normally Toph would bend someone into the earth if they called her by her formal name but the prim and proper captain made it sound elegant. Toph twisted her head away from Cree so he would not see her blush. That was the last thing she needed right now, becoming all girly.

_I wish Sugar Queen was here_, Toph thought as she controlled her blush. _She can do girly._

"I'm worried about this war," Toph said deciding to answer Cree's question. "Do you think we would win without Twinkle Toes?"

"In time," Cree answered truthfully. "Having the Avatar would end the war sooner than later." He raised an eyebrow at Toph. "Do you have a lack of faith in the Avatar?"

"Yes," Toph answered. She felt Cree's jaw dropping at her admission. "Don't get me wrong, Twinkle Toes is a hell of a bender. But I'm worried that something is holding him back and is keeping him from going into the Avatar State."

"I'm assuming it's someone."

"It's someone alright," Toph chuckled, knowing that lying to the captain would be useless. "And that someone does not feel the same."

"Does the General know?" Cree asked, raising his eyebrow.

"He's knows that Sparky and Twinkle Toes love her," Toph said as her big toe played with the dirt. "He doesn't know that Sugar Queen is in love with Sparky." She let out a huge sigh. "Worse, he doesn't know that Sugar Queen is the reason why Twinkle Toes can't go into the Avatar State."

"That's a pretty bold statement."

"Call it a hunch."

"I hate hunches," Cree replied, returning his attention back to the airship. "They are always right."

"Snoozles is going to flip," Toph said as she blew a piece of her hair out of her face. "If he finds out, he will kill Twinkle Toes."

"He won't find out," Cree said with determination. "The only way the General is going to find out is through the Avatar." He clasped his hands behind his back.

"Phfft," Toph snorted, slapping Cree in the arm. "Like I want to tell him." She raised her head up. "Somebody is coming. Judging by the footsteps, it's Iroh."

Cree turned his attention to the direction that Toph was pointing. He saw the old general slowly walking towards them. Iroh took his time enjoying his walk but Cree was not fooled by the old general's antics. The Dragon of the West was still quick on his feet and a highly skilled fighter. Since his nephew's departure, Cree noticed that Iroh was not smiling as much.

"Ah, Captain Cree and Master Toph," Iroh said as he slowly walked up to them. "I see that you are enjoying the Fire Nation's magnificent invention. Too bad it was used for war."

"It's better than a flying carpet bag," Toph said referring to Appa. She turned to Iroh's general direction. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just received news that the Water Tribe ships are approaching the ports in a matter of hours," Iroh said with a tired voice.

"That's good," Cree answered with a smirk. "Once we receive word that three of the ports have been captured, the airship will be taking off."

"We also received word that Ozai has requested the Admiral of the Navy to find Prince Zuko and Master Katara."

"As morbid as it sounds, that's good," Toph giving a huge sigh of relief. "That means Sparky found Sugar Queen."

"Do you know who the Admiral is, General Iroh?" Cree asked

"Turin," Iroh said with disgust.

"_The Butcher of Norse!_" Cree exclaimed. His face showed a lot of fear. Iroh only nodded to the young captain.

Toph did not need Cree to explain who Admiral Turin was. She had heard what the admiral did to a small farming village called Norse. The events of Norse scared her to the core and judging by the way Cree's heart jumped, Toph knew that Norse affected him too.

"I will tell the General the news," Cree said and gave a salute. Iroh returned the gesture while Toph just stood there staring at him blankly.

"He lost someone at Norse," Iroh said sadly as he watched the captain walked away.

"Seems like it," Toph answered. She let out a defeated sigh. "I'm not a spiritual person but I do hope that the spirits watch over Sparky and Sugar Queen."

"My nephew will watch over Master Katara," Iroh said with confidence. "I'm just praying that the spirits watch over my nephew."

****

Aang sat on the make shift wall of the zoo he created. It had been several days since Toph pinned him to the palm tree. Several days since Sokka begged Toph to release him. Several days for Aang to think about what Toph said. He was ashamed that he thought his friends forgot about Katara. He was ashamed of his behavior. He should be asking for forgiveness. He should be focusing on Ozai. The only thing that he was thinking about was the words that Toph said, words that anger him.

_If you were actually around, you would have learned that they became really close before the comet._

The frown went tighter on his face as Toph's voice echoed in his head. What happened between Katara and Zuko when the lion-turtle called for him? Aang guessed it was not romantic because Sokka would have a conniption and Toph would take the opportunity to tease them when she has the chance. But something happened. He could see it in the glances between Sokka, Suki, and Toph. He saw it in the small smile on Hakoda's face when the banished prince was mentioned. He felt it through Zuko's emotions in the war room about a month ago.

Aang felt the pure hate that radiated off of Zuko and was shocked to see the firebender's amber eyes turned dark brown. The prince's sickly features made him more menacing. When the question of what happened was asked, Zuko's personality changed. He looked lost and acted like he lost someone he cared about.

_Zuko caring about people, especially Katara?_ Aang gave a loud snort at the thought.

Still the firebender's reaction troubled him. Zuko had declared that he was going to save her. He was the one that everyone had listened to. The look that Zuko gave said it all.

_I deserve her._

Aang crumbled the rock underneath his hand. Zuko had no right to think like that! _He_ saw Katara first! They were friends first and _he_ fell in love with her first! _He _was the person who deserved Katara! He was the _Avatar_! That alone should give him the right over Zuko.

_He was there when you where not!_

Toph's words repeated in his head. Katara and Zuko became fast friends once they returned from their _field trip_. She had forgiven him. In fact, she hugged Zuko on the dock in front of him. The more Aang thought about it, the more he realized that Katara held on to Zuko a little bit longer. A little bit closer. A little bit personal.

Aang thought about the friendship. They did talk more. He would notice a tight frown on Katara's face and Zuko would be the one to offer a walk. Katara would return with a smile on her face and Zuko would be the one with the frown. There had been times Aang thought that Zuko was glaring at him.

They would constantly spar together. Aang was shock to see both benders using their most advance moves on each other. During a full moon, Aang caught Katara bloodbending on Zuko. Grey eyes went wide as Zuko struggled under Katara's grasp. Upset at Zuko for letting her do that and at Katara for even considering, Aang yelled at them. It was obvious that Zuko was going to say something but Katara cut him off. She yelled at Aang. She told him that they all changed. Fed up with Aang's anger, she took Zuko's hand and led him back to the beach house. Zuko narrowed his eyes at Aang and followed Katara.

Instead of harsh words, they blushed more. Katara would blush and quickly turn her head away from Zuko. Zuko would clear his throat and scratch the back of his head. They would make the same nervous chuckle and walked away. They sit together during meals. The usual scowl on Zuko's face would lighten up when Katara lean into his arm. They were the last to go to bed and the first to wake up. Aang never thought anything about it at the time. He wished he paid more attention then.

Aang remembered the day when Zuko called Katara a selfish peasant in front of the group. Everyone went silent and waited for Katara to freeze every part of Zuko's body. Instead, she burst out laughing and called him a spoiled prince. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence as everyone waited for either bender to get angry. Katara and Zuko just ate their meals with a smile on their faces.

Then there was Ember Island and that disastrous play. That horrible play suggested that Katara and Zuko were lovers in Ba Sing Se. Aang remembered their looks. They both looked embarrassed by that suggestion. He heard them whispering through the rest of the show. During intermission, Aang tried to kiss Katara but she backed away. She was angry at him and told him that she was confused.

Aang felt his blood boiling when he thought about what happened after the play. Everyone went their separate ways. Katara announced that she was going for a walk. She cut him off when he was about to say that he should join her. He wanted to follow her but he respected her privacy, so he waited for her. An hour had past before she returned. To his surprise, Katara was not alone. Katara and Zuko stepped into the courtyard with their arms linked. He could not hear what Zuko whispered in Katara's ear but whatever it was, it made her laugh. Once her giggling stopped, Katara said goodnight to Zuko by squeezing his hand. He returned the gesture. Before she headed to her room, she gave Zuko one final look before she disappeared. Zuko made a deep sigh and headed to his room. Aang gripped his glider when he thought about the scene.

_How can I be so stupid!_ Aang screamed at himself. He wanted to slam his head into a rock.

He should have questioned Katara on what happened in Ba Sing Se and her field trip with Zuko. He should have told Zuko to leave Katara alone. He should have seen this coming and been able to stop it.

The scarred prince of the Fire Nation was in love with _his_ waterbender.


	9. Chapter 9

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**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Harsh whisperings woke Katara up from her hazy, deep slumber. Lying on her stomach, Katara hid her face in the pillow trying to block out the voices. Her heavy head failed in ignoring the noise and the earthy smell distracted her. The wonderful scent came from the sheets and pillow. She gave a content sigh about the dream she had. She dreamt about being naked and being held by Zuko. Everything about the dream felt real. Right down to the silkiness of the sheets.

Her head shot up when she realized that her naked form was wrapped in the silky sheets from her dream.

"Oww," Katara groaned and rubbed her head. She heard footsteps and the mattress dipped when a person sat down.

"Katara?"

The voice practically made her heart stop. Katara bit her lower lip and squeezed her eyes shut just to keep from crying.

_Please be real,_ Katara prayed to the spirits. _Don't let this be a cruel joke._

"Katara?" a hand touched her bare shoulder. The familiar coolness of the touch almost broke a sob from her.

Katara took a deep breath and slowly turned around. She prepared herself for the worst, the cruel reality of being a prisoner in the Palace. Keeping the sheets close to her body, Katara stared at the person. Her eyes started at the pale knees, lifted to the black shorts, and then studied the define stomach. Her eyes lingered on the scar on the chest before moving to the face. The first thing she saw were amber eyes. Beautiful amber eyes that consumed her thoughts and dreams, _Zuko's eyes._

This time she cried.

Zuko pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Katara wrapped her arms his back and sobbed into his chest. She did not care that her tears were getting Zuko wet. She knew that he did not care because he held her tighter and rubbed her bare back.

"You're real!" Katara wailed. "You're actually real!"

"I'm here," Zuko said in a tight voice. "I'm here. Don't cry."

Katara continued to cry into Zuko's chest while he continued to rub her back. She did not care if her mind was blank or that she was naked. All she cared about was Zuko. He was alive and he was holding her. Like he used to before the comet.

She raised her head so she can wipe her eyes but Zuko was already ahead of her. His fingers gently wiped the tears off of her cheeks. Katara felt herself shiver at the touch. She never knew that he could be so delicate. She was shock to see the emotions in his eyes. She saw sadness, happiness, and something else she could not recognize. Then she saw the angry glint in his eyes. The same glint he had when he was chasing Aang. Her heart dropped when she saw that glint. That cannot be good.

"Is?" Katara swallowed. She had to hear the news. "Is Aang dead?"

"No," Zuko said. She could hear the anger in his voice. "He's not dead."

"He couldn't go into the Avatar State," Katara whispered.

"I don't know," Zuko sighed. This time he looked away. "I didn't hear the story. I was busy."

"Doing what?"

Zuko did not answer the question, and Katara felt the tension in the room as she watched Zuko clench his teeth. Someone cleared their throat and Katara looked up. Her cheeks went red when she saw a tall slender woman standing near the door. She realized that the woman was the other voice that woke her up.

Katara looked around the room that she was in. It was very ornate and decorated in velvets and dark woods. It was too much decoration for her taste.

"Where am I?" Katara asked slowly as she continued to study the room.

Before the woman could answer, the door opened and a young woman walked in holding a pile of clothes. The younger woman gave a curt nod to the older one before she turned her attention to Katara and Zuko.

"I found some clothes that have been left behind by our clients, your highness," the young woman said with a smile.

_Clients?_ Katara thought as she raised an eyebrow. Zuko still did not look up.

"I also found some clothes for Lady Katara," the young woman continued. "I don't know they will fit her because she's so curvy."

_I'm in the room. _Katara instantly disliked the girl.

"Thank you, Esei," the older woman said and took the top of the pile off of the girl's arms. "Prince Zuko, there's a bathroom down the hall that you can use. Why don't you go and clean up? I'll talk to Lady Katara."

Katara saw Zuko's shoulders relaxed. The action concerned her. Something had happened and it was giving Zuko so much pain. He stood up and took the clothes from the older woman. He did not care that he was standing in a room with three women with his shorts on.

"A bath sounds nice," Zuko said evenly. Now Katara was scared. She never had seen him so calm.

"Do you need assistance?" Esei said, sounding too helpful.

_She's a little too friendly. _Katara frowned at Esei.

"I can bathe myself," Zuko snapped at Esei and left the room. Katara smirked at the girl.

"Esei?" the older woman asked. "I need you to go to the servants and tell them to come here." Esei handed the clothes to the woman and left the room. The woman smiled at Katara and approached the bed. "How are you?"

"Okay, I guess," Katara said and adjusted the sheets around her body. "My head feels like lead and my body hurts." A blush formed on her face. "Can you tell me why I'm naked?"

"You had a rough night," the woman said and sat down. "My name is Vianne and this is my manor."

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

"What do you remembered?"

Katara's blue eyes flashed in annoyance. Vianne was avoiding her questions. Deciding not to fight with the older woman, Katara closed her eyes and thought about what happen.

"Zuko and I confronted Azula," Katara started. "She challenged an Agni Kai." She heard Vianne drawn in a breath. "He was winning and suddenly Azula threw lightning at me." Her eyes began to water as she remembered the event. "He jumped in front of it. I had to stop Azula before I could heal him," she continued as her voice began to waver. "The soldiers where coming and there was blood." She made a brief pause so she can collect herself. "Zuko had to get out or he was going to die. I stayed behind to give Appa time to escape."

Vianne stared at Katara with wide saffron eyes. Katara fidget in her spot as the memory continued.

"I was taken prisoner." Katara stared at the red sheets. "The guards brought me to Ozai." She raised her head to look at Vianne. "Did you know that he killed his own daughter?"

"Yes."

"He laughed at me. He called me names. Then he touched me." Katara flinched when she recalled the warm hand groping her skin. "He put me in a cell and I guess I passed out because I'm here."

"You don't remember anything else?"

"Barely," Katara admitted. "I keep hearing a name and seeing gold eyes."

"A name?"

"_Waterbender_," Katara said and she felt the anger brewing. "I was called the _waterbender_. It sounded filthy."

"It was," Vianne said and sat closer to Katara. "Is that all you remember from the two months?"

"Two months?" Katara whispered. "It can't be two months! It has been only a week!"

"You've been gone for two months," Vianne said grimly. "Prince Zuko rescued you from the Palace."

"Why can't I remember two months?"

"You were drugged."

"Why was I drugged?"

"You were," Vianne looked at Katara sadly. "The Fire Lord's waterbender."

No one in the manor heard Katara's heart wrenching scream.

****

Admiral Turin strolled down the hallway heading to the throne room. Two servants flanked his side and were taking his cape and gloves. The two gave their bows once Turin entered the throne room. He walked towards the wall of flames and quickly dropped to his knees. His bow was low and his forehead touched the marble.

"You have requested me, my Lord?" Turin said without lifting his head. He knew what the punishment was if he lifted his head without being asked. It was an Agni Kai with an undefeated firebender, Fire Lord Ozai.

Turin could feel Ozai's eyes boring into his head. As he patiently waited for Ozai to speak, Turin began to think why he was summoned. His ship had reached the Capitol's dock midday yesterday. Without informing the crew, he headed to the Red Light district and visited his favorite spot; Madame Vianne's manor. Vianne welcomed the admiral with a dazzling smile and explained to him that his favorite room was being used. _High ranking official, _she said with a wink. Turin knew what that meant. The official was with someone that was not a woman.

Vianne offered Turin one of the most luxurious rooms in the manor as an apology for the inconvenience. That made his day, the luxury rooms were for the richest nobles and royalty. The Madame also said that his favorite girl had requested for another girl to join in the festivities. Of course, he had to approve, which he gladly did. He was planning to leave the manor in a couple of days. He was interrupted early in the morning by one of his soldiers saying that the Fire Lord requested him.

"Do you know why you were summoned?" Ozai asked through the wall of fire.

"For the upcoming invasion against the Earth Kingdom, my Lord," Turin said with confidence.

"No," Ozai said with boredom. This time Turin raised his head. He saw Ozai smirk at him. "I have a mission for you."

Normally Turin would be excited to go on a private mission for the Fire Lord, but he was disappointed. He planned the invasion and as Admiral of the Navy, Turin wanted to see the Earth Kingdom crumble. He was curious on what could be more important than the invasion.

"What about the invasion, my Lord?"

"Let the generals handle it," Ozai said. "I don't want to waste my best man with frivolous battles."

"What is the mission?"

"My prize has been stolen."

Turin knew exactly who Ozai was referring too. The waterbending master. The Avatar's whore.

"I'll be honored to find your prize."

"I know you would be," Ozai said smugly. "Return my prize and you can kill the traitor that stole her."

"Do you know who the traitor is?"

"The former crown prince."

An evil smile appeared on Turin's lips. Prince Zuko was a thorn in his side when he was trying to become Admiral of the Navy. Just having the opportunity to kill him was even better than receiving the letter proclaiming that Admiral Zhao died in the North Pole. Killing Zuko would be better than getting him banished.

Turin always saw Zuko as a threat. The boy was ten when he successfully planned several campaigns. He was highly respected by the military and he was being trained by Special Forces. When Turin heard that Zuko was going to be Admiral of the Navy at fourteen, he knew he had to do something. Then one day his opportunity came.

Turin witnessed the argument between the young prince and General Iroh in front of the war room. After several minutes the young prince agreed to keep his mouth shut during the meeting. With that information, Turin went to another general and gave him a crazy suggestion. He knew that the prince would protest about sacrificing young recruits' lives, and sure enough he did. His proudest moment was convincing Ozai that he should fight in the Agni Kai because it was his war room that the prince disrespected. The Fire Lord gave a sinister grin and gladly took the opinion. Now the prince was banished and a traitor to his country.

"My Lord," Turin said with another bow. "I would even return his head to you."

"Good," Ozai said and waved his hand. "You may leave."

Turin slowly got to his feet and gave a nod to Ozai. He spun on his heels and left the throne room. The two servants were waiting for him and quickly handed back his cape and gloves. A frown slowly appeared on his face as Turin walked out of the Palace and entered his carriage. He did not know where to start. Zuko was trained to sneak in, attack, and sneak out. It would be surprising if Zuko and the waterbender stayed in the Capitol.

_Unless,_ Turin's mind mused. _He had some assistance._

Then it hit him. Just as Turin was saying goodbye to his favorite girl and her friend with promises of returning, he saw Madame Vianne's assistant carrying clothes. He only glanced at them but he was sure that the top stack was men's clothing.

_Where was that girl going?_ Turin thought as he tapped his fingers on his knee.

His buff eyes went wide when he remembered which direction the girl was going. She was heading to his usual room. The room that is currently being used by a high ranking official.

"SHIT!" Turin yelled and slammed his hand into the carriage's wall. "That son of a bitch!" he leaned out of the window. "Go to the manor! Now!" he barked at the driver.


	10. Chapter 10

**Enjoy & Review**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Katara was numb. She did not say a word when Vianne explained what happened to her. She did not even flinch when the woman showed her the bloody water in the copper tub. She did not cheer when she was told that she was not carrying Ozai's child. Katara stayed silent when the servants helped her with her bath and dressed her. She did not find herself beautiful when she looked in the mirror.

All that was on her mind was that she was raped. She was raped by an evil man that wanted to destroy the world. The worst part was that she cannot remember anything.

_I'm damaged, _Katara grimly thought. _No one wants a damaged woman._

She stared in the mirror and tried to admire her outfit. She was dressed in black silks. Her slacks were wide and billowy. She wore a high collar shirt and over the shirt was a long tunic. The tunic was long sleeved. Her brown hair was pulled into a traditional Fire Nation bun and was clasped with a gold pin. There was no skin exposed and Katara liked it. She was not letting anyone see her skin.

Katara heard the door opened and she raised her head. From the reflection in the mirror, she saw Zuko walked in. He quickly shut the door and lean his back to it. His hands went into the pockets and he stared at her. She could see the sadness in his eyes.

Zuko looked tired. There was a huge bag under his good eye and his bad eye looked smaller than usual. Katara took note that his hair was longer than the last time she saw him. The black silks that he was wearing were similar to hers and they were a little big but yet he still looked regal.

_He always looked regal,_ Katara thought as she turned towards him. _The perfect prince._

Zuko took a couple of steps but stopped. She knew that he wanted to pull her into his arms but was afraid how she would react. She could not blame him. She did not know how she would react.

"You don't look good in black," Zuko said sheepishly when he broke the silence. His hand instantly went to the back of his head.

Somehow Katara thought it was the most hilarious thing she heard in her life. She burst out laughing as she watched Zuko's face turned from a tinted pink, to a blush, and then a red. She quickly ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. Her head went on his chest. Zuko wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers. He slowly rocked her while she laughed.

"Thank you," Katara said between breaths. "Thank you for being here."

"I'm sorry," Zuko whispered. "I'm sorry for putting you through this. I should have stayed behind."

Katara did not know what to say. She stayed in Zuko's arms as he continued whispering apologies to her. She was not mad at him but she did wonder what would have happen if he stayed behind. Her conclusion was that he would be dead. The thought of him dead hurt more than her rape.

"I want to see your scar," Katara said as her hand brushed his chest. She remembered that she felt his scar last night.

Zuko gave her a doubtful look but did as she requested. She let out a loud gasp when she saw the scar. The mark was ugly and it was scabbing. It looked painful. Her fingers gently touched the scar and she felt his muscles quiver at her touch. Tears pricked her eyes as she continued to trace the scar.

He took a lightning bolt for her.

Sensing what she was thinking, Zuko pulled her chin up and stared in her eyes. Katara felt the light touch caressing her chin.

"I'd do it again," Zuko proclaimed still looking into her eyes. "I have no regrets." He pulled her into his arms again.

For the first time since learning about her imprisonment, Katara felt completely safe. She knew that Zuko would protect her.

****

"Madame Vianne!" the stable boy shouted as he rushed into her office. "Madame Vianne!"

"What is it, Ichi?" Vianne said in a weary voice. All of her strength was taken away when she told Katara what happened to her. The look that the girl gave broke her heart.

"Admiral Turin's carriage has been spotted entering the district," Ichi said.

"He knows!" Vianne exclaimed and rushed out of her office. Ichi followed her waiting for his orders. Vianne grabbed Esei's arm as the girl walked by. "Go see Mari. Ask her if she said anything to the Admiral."

"Yes Madame," Esei replied and quickly disappeared.

"Do you want me to stall Admiral Turin?" Ichi asked.

"No," Vianne answered as she primped in front of the mirror. "Go to Prince Zuko's and Lady Katara's room. Admiral Turin believes a high ranking official is in that room. Make it look convincing."

"Is that all?"

"Take them to the tunnels when he leaves," Vianne said as she smoothed her hair.

Ichi nodded and headed to the room. Vianne gave one final look in the mirror before heading to the foyer. She stood there for several minutes until the front door swung opened showing a very angry Admiral Turin.

"Welcome back my dear Admiral," Vianne said smoothly and gave a dazzling smile. "Mari wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"I want to meet your high ranking official, Madame," Turin snarled.

****

Ozai was barely out of the throne room when a guard came up to him with some unsettling news.

"My Lord," the guard bowed. "The ports on the eastern coast are under attack."

The news surprised Ozai. He knew about the growing military in the Earth Kingdom but he was not expecting them to attack the Fire Nation. The attack just only sped up his invasion plans.

"The Earth Kingdom thought they can win by throwing the first punch," Ozai grumbled as he headed to the war room.

"What are you orders?"

"Send the troops," Ozai ordered. "Send word to the western fleets to invade the Earth Kingdom. Have the ground troops ready. They are planning to capture the ports and once they do the enemy would be marching towards the Capitol."

"What if the Avatar comes back?"

"Let him," Ozai snapped. "I beat him once! I can do it again! He's just a weak child!" He stopped at the war room doors. "Don't you have orders to give out?" he snarled at the guard.

The guard swallowed hard and quickly ran away. Ozai gave a small sigh. It was too much of a coincidence that the Earth Kingdom was attacking hours after his prize was taken. He entered the war room and his generals stood in attention. Ozai waved to the generals to sit down and headed to his chair. He was confident that Turin would bring back his prize. He was confident of the invasion that was meticulously planned out. He sat down and gave the generals a big smile.

"Gentleman," Ozai said as he folded his hands on the table. "The invasion plans have changed." The generals began talking at once. Ozai raised his hand to silence them. "We are going to attack now."

****

Zuko felt the gentle caress of Katara's fingers over his chest scar. She snuggled closer and let out a loud sigh. His hands gently rubbed her back as he tried his best to swallow the anger that was brewing in him.

He saw her appearance when he entered the room. Her naturally tan skin that he adored looked grey. Her spirited blue eyes were still dull but this time he could see the life in them. The black silks that she was wearing made her paler. That was one color that he would make sure that she will never wear again.

Katara's appearance brought sadness into Zuko's heart. He could not help feeling that he was responsible for her condition. He wanted to storm the Palace and kill Ozai when he saw the look in her eyes. The look she gave sent him in a fiery rage.

The look she gave said she was damaged.

_You're not damaged, Love, _Zuko thought as he brushed his lips on the top of her head. _You'll never be damaged. _A realization came to him. _How long have I been calling her that?_ Zuko found it odd that he was comfortable calling Katara that. The name fit her.

"What happens now?" Katara asked, bringing Zuko out of his thoughts.

"We are getting out of here," Zuko answered. "We need to head north and then east. There will be a boat waiting for us."

"Then what?" Katara asked, looking at Zuko.

"We head to the North Pole," Zuko said as he looked into her eyes. "We'll stay there until I'm requested to return."

"Requested?"

"An invasion had started," Zuko smiled. "Sokka planned it."

"Another invasion?"

"Don't ask me anything about it," Zuko said as he wrapped a loose strand of Katara's hair around his finger. She gave a small smile at the gesture. "I refused to hear any details."

He knew she saw the dark look in his eyes because Katara's eyes welled up at the meaning.

"Zuko," Katara whispered. "You can't! Don't be an idiot!"

"You're my priority."

"You're next in line for the throne!" Katara yelled pushing herself away. "I'm nobody!"

"Katara," Zuko said looking hurt. "You are somebody. You are important to …," he never got a chance to finish his sentence. He heard the door open and by instinct he swung Katara behind his back.

A boy, about the same age as Aang, stepped in the room and shut the door. Without saying a word, the boy rushed to the bed and began pulling the sheets off.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked confused by the boy's action.

"Admiral Turin is here," the boy answered as he tossed the pillows towards the door. "He's coming to this room and I'm preparing it."

Zuko's heart sped up. He had met Turin before his banishment and after he returned from Ba Sing Se. The man was ruthless and he would do anything to get what he wanted. Zuko also knew that the man was careless and a horrible leader. The thought that Turin was Admiral of the Navy was scary.

"Preparing for what?" Katara asked as she watched the boy knock the nightstand over. The bowl of water and the candlestick scattered across the floor.

"A high ranking official," the boy replied and took off his shirt.

As uncomfortable as Zuko was, he understood what the boy was doing. Turin would not enter the room if the opposite sex answered or a _younger_ opposite sex answered the door. Zuko watched the boy lowered his pants and twisted them so it looked like he just put them on. He ran his fingers through his black hair messing it up. Katara stared at the scene with wide eyes.

"Your highness," the boy said and pointed to a corner. "You should take Lady Katara there. Once the Admiral leaves, we are getting out of here."

Zuko took his broadswords and dagger in one hand and Katara's hand in the other. They barely made it to the area when the door started to pound. Katara made a yelp and Zuko instantly pushed her against the wall. The boy took a deep breath and opened the door just slightly.

"Yes?" the boy said, stifling a yawn. There was a brief pause. Zuko could imagine Turin standing there with his mouth opened.

"Madame," Turin stuttered. It sounded like he was trying to regain his composure. "I did not know that you catered to _perversions_."

"I do what I have to do to make my clients happy," Vianne said sounding bored. "Ichi, is your master here?"

"My master is asleep," the boy lied. He glanced over his shoulder as if he was looking at something. "He had a busy night."

Katara gripped the back of Zuko's outer tunic. The gesture pulled him backwards causing him to crush her against the wall. Hands went on his stomach and slowly went up to his chest. They gripped his tunic as Zuko felt a body tremble behind him. The fear of being caught pushed all aroused feelings out of him. His eyes were on the door and he gripped his weapons tightly.

"Please wake your master," Vianne ordered. "Tell him that Admiral Turin wants to see him."

_She wouldn't, _Zuko thought as his knuckles turned white from gripping the weapons. _She wouldn't betray us._

"I don't think that's necessary," Turin replied hastily. Zuko could hear how uncomfortable the admiral was.

"But Admiral," Vianne exclaimed. "You demanded to see him!"

"You can give me a name boy," Turin ordered.

"I swore to secrecy!" Ichi protested. The boy was being overly dramatic. It reminded Zuko of Sokka.

"I give you permission to tell the Admiral!" Vianne snarled. Zuko heard a slap and Ichi's head snapped to the right. "Defy my orders and you will find yourself at Len's Velvet Door!"

"Senator Quaron," Ichi said bowing his head. "My master is Senator Quaron."

"Thank you, young man," Turin said sounding proud.

"You're welcome Admiral."

"Have a good day Ichi," Vianne said. Ichi nodded and shut the door. He leaned against the door and gave a chuckle.

"Boy," Ichi laughed. "That was close!"

"Senator Quaron?" Zuko stumbled over his words. He could not get the rest of the question out.

"I work in the stables," Ichi smiled and walked away from the door. "Madame Vianne was getting even." He found his shirt and slipped it on. "The senator beat one of the girls a couple of weeks ago." He readjusted his pants. "What the Admiral saw should ruin the senator's election."

"Your Madame really takes good care of her employees," Katara said once she found her voice.

"She does," Ichi said sounding proud. He gave a quick glance at the door. "We better get going. I doubt the Admiral would be fooled for long."

****

The fire crackled loudly as Zuko prodded it with a stick. Katara gave a shiver and scooted closer to the fire. She had forgotten how cold the nights are in the Fire Nation. She heard footsteps coming towards her and something warm was draped around her shoulders. She looked up and saw Zuko kneeling over her.

"You looked cold," Zuko simply said as he finished draping his black outer tunic over her shoulders. "This should keep you warm."

"What about you?" Katara asked and she clutched the material tighter around her shoulders. "Aren't you going to be cold?" She pointed at the thin grey shirt he was wearing.

"I never liked wearing a lot of layers at night," Zuko answered and returned to his spot that was a couple feet away from her. "Besides I can control my body heat."

Katara did not say anything and returned staring at the fire. She was tired, mentally and physically. Physically she was tired because she travelled all day without stopping. Ichi lead them to the tunnel and quickly gave Zuko directions where to go from there. The boy handed Katara a pack full of supplies while Zuko strapped on his swords and dagger. They gave their thanks and Zuko gently took Katara's hand and lead her away. They exited from the tunnel several yards away from the northern wall and began heading north. Zuko kept pushing Katara on while he trailed behind making sure that they were not being followed. It was well past sundown when Zuko announced that they should stop for the night. Even though they where a good distance away, Katara could still see the glow from the Capitol.

Mentally she was tired. While Zuko was busy making a fire and their dinner, Katara tried her best to remember what happened to her during the two months. Her mind was blank with the exception of flashes of gold eyes, verbal taunts, and a gold goblet. The name _Waterbender_ kept repeating in her mind. It was driving her nuts and making her hating the name more. She would never let anyone call her _Waterbender_ anymore. She was either Katara or Master Katara.

"Zuko?" Katara asked as she played with her now cold soup. Zuko raised his head up from the map that he was studying. "Why did everyone at the manor called me Lady Katara?"

"Because you are," Zuko answered and returned back to the map. Katara narrowed her eyes at him. She put her soup down and walked towards him on her knees.

"But I should be called Master Katara," Katara said and pulled the map out of his hands. This time his eyes narrowed. "I'm not a noble." She noticed that his eyes soften at that comment.

"Where we were at," Zuko said as he turned his head towards the fire. "You're definitely not a _Master_ and calling you _Miss_ was inappropriate," he returned his gaze back to her. "Calling you _Lady_ was a sign of respect."

"Why is that respectful?"

"Because we where staying in a whorehouse," Zuko replied, and then he flinched waiting for Katara's anger.

"A whorehouse!" Katara practically yelled. Her upper lip curled in disgust. "Did you _partake?_" she accused. Zuko made a tight frown.

"I did not _partake_," Zuko retorted and crossed his arms. "Who says _partake_ these days?"

"You did," Katara shot back. She placed her hands on her hips. In the past the action would irritate Zuko but now he found it attractive. "Back in the Western Air Temple. If I remembered correctly, you said that you do not _partake_ in silly activities."

"You were splashing in the water!"

"It's called relieving stress! Which you have a lot of, I might add!"

"I'm looking at the cause!" Zuko mumbled under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Zuko said quickly and then cleared his throat.

"Then why did we stay in a whorehouse?"

"Apparently uncle is a member," Zuko snorted and ran his hand through his hair. The action made Katara suck in her breath. "Katara," he gently cupped the side of her face. Katara felt herself leaning towards the touch. "I never left your side. I was so scared that I was going to lose you."

"Oh," Katara blushed. She instantly looked at the ground as memories of last time they were alone around a fire danced in her mind. She was glad that she did not lose those memories.

"We better get some sleep," Zuko whispered and removed his hand. Katara suddenly felt colder once his hand left her cheek. "I want to get moving before sunrise."

"Okay," Katara responded and glanced at her bedroll several feet away from them. The idea of him sleeping so far away bothered Katara. "Zuko?" she asked, feeling the embarrassment growing in her. "Can you hold me tonight?"

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Zuko asked hoarsely.

"Please," Katara pleaded. She hated that she sounded so weak. "I need to feel safe."

Zuko stared at the ground while Katara waited for his answer. His answer was him standing up and collecting his bedroll. She watched him stroll past her and lay out his bedroll next to hers. He sat down and gently motioned to Katara to join him. Katara gave a huge smile and slowly walked towards Zuko. She was barely in arms length when Zuko gently took her hand and pulled her into his arms. In a slow and smooth motion, Zuko gently laid Katara down next to him on the bedrolls. She felt his arms wrapping around her waist and his face nuzzling into her hair. The gentle sound of his breathing relaxed her.

"You will never feel unsafe," Zuko promised into her ear. His warm breath sent a tingle through her body. "I will make sure of that."

"I know you will," Katara answered in a soft voice. She stayed awake and listened to Zuko's breathing becoming even. She knew that he was asleep. "I love you," she whispered before falling asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Great reviews! I'm glad that everyone is enjoying the story!**

**I think it's time to add a "Just A Reminder". The characters are following a little tidbit from the show. The tidbit was Yue. Meaning; the characters are considered adults at the age of 16. Just keep that in mind.**

**Sorry! Only one chapter and it's non-zutara. But it plays a part!**

**Enjoy & Review**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Turin took a sip from his glass. He let the spicy liqueur swish around his tongue as he stared at the map on the wall. His theory about the high ranking official at the manor was proven wrong. Reports from the guards proved that the prince had escaped from the Capitol with the waterbender. The sun had already set and Turin figured that the prince had at least a day and half head start. That is, if he left midday yesterday.

He took another sip and this time he could taste the cinnamon in it. Besides the reports of failed searches, he had also received word that the eastern ports where under attack. The last report he received an hour ago said that one port was going to fall. Turin wrinkled his nose as he thought about it. It was too much of a coincidence that the Earth Kingdom was attacking when the Fire Lord's prize disappeared. He figured that the Fire Nation army would win in a couple of days. His buff eyes returned to the map on the wall. He needed to figure out where the banished prince will go.

_He won't go west,_ Turin mumbled as he poured more of the spicy liqueur in his glass. _He's not in the Capitol and he would be a fool if he head to the eastern ports._

The only two options would be north and south. The southern region would be difficult because it was heavily populated. Turin did not doubt that Zuko could travel through the southern region undetected but if he was planning to hide a waterbender, then the southern region would be a bad idea. The northern region would be the better solution. The area is filled with mountains and villages are spread very thin. The populated areas are the ports that dotted the coast. Even the islands in the northern sea are uninhabited. The obvious answer was that Zuko would head north.

"Admiral?" a sailor walked in the cabin and gave a salute. "Here's the updated list of executions." The sailor handed Turin the parchment and left the cabin.

Giving a scowl, Turin ripped opened the parchment and read the list of traitors that committed a sin against the Fire Nation. His eyes went wide when he saw one name on the list. In a rage, Turin grabbed his glass and threw it against the map. He slumped in the chair and rubbed his temples. There had to be a perfectly good explanation on why her name was on the list.

_Mai,_ Turin thought and pulled out the knife that she gave him when he left Omashu. _What did you do to deserve this?_

The only logical thought was that she was Zuko's betrothed. The girl had been engaged to the banished prince since her birth. Turin figured since Zuko betrayed his country, Mai was assumed that she supported him

Turin let out a loud sigh and played with the knife. He had met Mai when he was in the Earth Kingdom. He was just a general then and he successfully captured Omashu. The first time he saw Mai, his heart stopped. The girl was leaning against the column playing with one of her knives while she listened to her father talked to him. He remembered the smirk she gave when her yellow eyes roved over his body giving Turin a pleasurable shiver. He spent the next six months keeping Mai's bed warm.

He knew that she was betrothed to Zuko and he did not care. Arranged marriages in the Fire Nation heighten political power and affairs were common even though they were kept private. Having sex with Mai was a victory on successfully getting rid of a boy that was threatening his military career. Somewhere in the affair Turin was actually having feelings for the girl.

The affair continued when Mai returned to the Palace and her engagement to Zuko was reestablished. Turin would visit during the late night while Zuko spent the day with her. Naturally Mai was torn. She did have feelings for the Admiral but she was supposed to be in love with Zuko. She did love him before his banishment but when he returned, she felt like she was with a different man. She stayed with him because she did love him as a friend and the idea of being Fire Lady. Mai formed a plan for her and Turin to see each other when she became Fire Lady.

Now Turin would never see the beautiful assassin again. Imagining the map was Zuko's head, he threw the knife with surprising speed. The knife imbedded itself into the map and probably the metal wall.

_I should have killed you when I had the chance! _Turin muttered to himself.

"Admiral?" the same sailor announced breaking Turin out of his thoughts. "Colonel Shinu is here as requested."

"Let him in," Turin answered stiffly and took his eyes off of the map. A middle age man entered the room. "Colonel," he welcomed. "Please sit down."

"Admiral," Shinu responded and sat down. He noticed the shattered glass on the floor. "Is there something you needed?" The colonel did not have a high respect for the admiral and prayed that this meeting would be short.

"Yes," Turin answered. "I need your archers."

Shinu held back a groan. Another conceited admiral wants his prized Yu Yan archers. He figured that Turin wanted them to find the Avatar.

"May I ask why?" Shinu asked, already believing that he had the answer.

"To find the banished prince," Turin said while he studied Shinu. "And the Fire Lord's waterbender."

Turin watched Shinu's face reacted to the news. It started out with shock, then turned to fear, and then anger. He just assumed that Zuko's military career was better known than originally thought. Shinu tugged on his collar before he could speak. The cabin suddenly became dry.

"The banished prince?" Shinu repeated with a shaky voice.

"Yes," Turin snorted turned his attention to the map.

"What about the invasion?"

"The generals are handling it."

"Where do you want my archers positioned?"

"The northern fleet will be guarding the northern ports. My men would be marching north," Turin said, standing up and walking towards the map. His hand went to the knife and pulled it out. "I want your archers to force the banished prince and the waterbender to the west," he saw the colonel shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Is that a problem?"

"It's just that the western region," Shinu stopped talking when he saw the glare from Turin. "No sir, it's not a problem. My archers can stop the banished prince. What do you want us to do with him once we capture him."

"Kill him," Turin said with a shrug. "I want the waterbender alive."

Shinu stared at the metal floor trying in vain to control his emotions. Turin saw the uneasiness in the colonel and was about to point it out but was he interrupted by a sailor entering the cabin.

"Your orders, sir?" the sailor asked while he saluted.

"Have this list posted at every village in the northern region," Turin ordered as he thrust the note back to the sailor. "Have my men leave tonight." The sailor saluted again and quickly left the cabin.

"Colonel?" Turin asked and the man quickly looked up. "Don't you have your orders?"

"Yes sir," Shinu said and stood up. He tugged down his uniform and left the cabin.

Turin gave a triumphant smirk and headed back to his seat. He swung his legs on the table and lean back into the chair. He stared at the knife in his hand.

_Killing you will be enjoyable, _Turin muttered as he threw the knife at the map.

****

Colonel Shinu entered the conference room in his bunker and threw the fist thing that was on his desk, an oil lamp. The impact shattered the glass and the oil slowly dribbled down the wall. Shinu took a couple of deep breaths to control his anger. He had always disliked Admiral Turin but now his dislike went past hatred. The admiral wanted his archers do something that was considered treason in the Fire Nation. The admiral wanted the crown prince dead.

His hand fisted into his breast pocket and clasped around a small round object. He pulled out his hand and stared at the clay token that was resting comfortably in the middle of his palm.

_To protect the balance, _Shinu mumbled under his breath while he stared at the token. _I will stop the treachery that has been bestowed on my land and the world. Let the wrong be punished and let the right rise to rule. That is the oath of the Order that I hear by declare._

"Colonel?" a soldier gave a quick salute. Shin quickly closed his hand and looked over his shoulder. "Your archers will be down shortly."

"Thank you," Shinu answered, still clutching the token. He watched the young soldier take his place near the desk and began pulling out a quill and some paper. "This is a private meeting Sergeant. You are not needed to record our discussions."

The sergeant stared at Shinu for a minute before packing everything away and left the room. The colonel gave a loud sigh and sat down at his desk. He was entering dangerous waters now since he had received word from his grandmaster about the invasion and the prince's escape through a white dove-hawk. He was ordered to follow Turin's orders and force the prince and the master waterbender to a small northern port where a water tribe ship will be waiting for them. Turin ruined that plan by suggesting that the archers should force the prince west. The western region was dangerous. The area was barren and it was rumored to harbor deserters of the war.

_Maybe going west is not bad, _Shinu thought as the token ran along on his knuckles. _They could find refuge from the people that oppose this spirit-forsaken war._

Shinu looked at the token again. The colonel never forgotten the intelligence and strength that the young prince had. The prince loved learning and he trained with every division and company that the Fire Nation military had to offer. What he lacked in firebending, the boy excelled in combat. The training and the studying paid off when the prince successfully organized his first campaign. The attack was quick and the lost of life was very minimal, even the enemy lost a very few. The military respected the prince and high ranking officers began worrying about their status. The young prince reminded them of General Iroh, the Dragon of the West. One was bad; having two was considered a nightmare for them.

A chuckle escaped from the colonel's lips when he remembered the high ranking officers panicking when they heard that the young prince was training with the Elite. The Elite was the best of the best. They were the first to the battle and the last to leave. Rumors about their missions became legends. The officers feared that the prince would be something more dangerous than General Iroh. They feared that the prince will become like his cousin. Prince Lu Ten was the highest ranking Elite officer and the most dangerous.

The prince's banishment broke the military's heart. A lot of the men just abandoned the young man by calling him weak and a failure. They quickly forgot the many successful campaigns that the boy created. Shinu and his archers were the small few that still supported the young prince and believed that he would become a great Fire Lord. Honored by the respect that the colonel had, General Iroh handed him a small token. The old general promised to send orders when the time has come to fight back.

The time has come.

"You've called for us, Colonel?"

Shinu closed his hand around the tile and looked up at his archers. He nodded for them to sit down and watched each one took their seat by rank. Once everyone was settled in their seats, Shinu walked in front of the table and looked at his archers. Just like the Elite, the Yu Yan was the best of the best. They are the ones that can pin a fly by its wings and by orders can miss a target by two inches.

"We have our orders," Shinu said and opened his hand. The archers glanced at the token in his hand and looked up with smiles on their faces.

The token was a white lotus tile.

"Our objective?" one archer asked.

"Push to the west and shoot to wound," Shinu ordered. He saw the archers' faces turned white at the order. "The general gave us an order to injure the prince. We have to make it look convincing."

"The western region is uninhabitable!" one archer shouted. "We will be responsible for the prince's death!"

"The western region also has rivers and streams," Shinu answered, calming the nerves of his archers. "It is also believed that war deserters live in that region. I want everyone to study a map and take note on all possible water sources and villages. When we fire on the prince, I want him to be near something that can save him."

"Then it's true that the waterbender is a healer," another archer said.

"Master Katara is a skilled healer and don't forget that she is also a warrior," Shinu said and sat on the edge of his desk. "She will kill you if she's believes that the prince's life is in danger." The archers nodded to Shinu's warning. "Good, we leave in one hour. Dismissed."

****

Lieutenant Jee placed his foot on the parapet of the roof. His eyes stared at the horizon and watched the stars slowly appearing in the early evening sky. At one point of his life, he hated the sunset. He hated that he was weak when the sun rest for the night. He hated the moon that shined above him because it reminded him of waterbenders. That all changed when he was volunteered his service for the banished prince. During his three years at sea, Jee had the pleasure of learning about the night skies from General Iroh. The old man told legends and stories about the stars and the moon. Jee had even caught his commanding officer, Prince Zuko, standing at the bow with his hands dangling over the railing and had a look of peace on his face. Those three years made Jee enjoy the beauty of the night.

His hand went to his mouth and took a puff of his cigarette. That was one habit that no one could break from him. Iroh hid his cigarettes once and Jee held the tea supplies hostage. The crew tried negotiating between the two men but that ended up with threats of liquor being tossed over board. The prince made a peaceful solution by grabbing one tea bag and one cigarette and holding both of them over an open flame.

Jee was hand picked by Fire Lord Ozai to spy over the banished prince and the retired general. He was ordered to send reports on the status of the search for the Avatar. Jee did not support the banished prince like some members of the military and he was more than happy to spy on the snarly boy. He had hit the breaking point on the prince's attitude towards the crew. He was about to lead a mutiny when Iroh told him and the crew the story how the boy got his scar. Since then, Jee became a supporter to the prince.

Then the day came when Iroh told the crew that Admiral Zhao would be requesting them to join him. The general told them that Zhao would send them off to a Fire Nation island post so they can watch their military career die. Jee was surprised when the general told the crew to accept the admiral's offer. He handed each one a white lotus tile and told them to wait until they are needed. Since then the crew had been working at the tiny post, drinking on their free time, and waiting for the good general's order.

A white dot caught Jee's attention. He put out his cigarette as he watched the dot slowly become bigger and bigger. A dove-hawk landed on the parapet a few feet away from Jee. The creature cooed at him and waited for the lieutenant to come to it.

"What do you have, buddy?" Jee asked when he noticed the note tied to the bird's claw.

"Is that a message from a friend?"

The dove-hawk cooed again when Jee picked up the bird and gently untied the note from its claw. He let the bird fly away and opened up the note. A grin appeared on his face as he read the contents. He rushed off the roof and bounded down the stairs to the bar. He could hear the laughter and shouting as he came closer to the entrance. Everyone stopped their talking when they saw Jee burst through the door with a grin on his face and holding a note.

"Gentlemen," Jee panted. "The general has requested us. We are going to Ba Sing Se."

A huge cheer erupted from the bar and songs started. Jee walked up to the bartender and requested a shot of whiskey. As he waited for his drink, he laughed at the song that was currently being sung. It was about Fire Lord Ozai, a mule-horse, and which of the two would make a better leader. When he received his drink, Jee raised his shot in the air and the room became very quiet.

"Hail, General Iroh!" Jee shouted and took a sip.

"Hail, General Iroh!" the crew cheered and took a sip of their drinks.

"Hail, Fire Lord Zuko!" Jee shouted again and finished his shot.

"Hail, Fire Lord Zuko!" the crew answered and finished their drinks.


	12. Chapter 12

**YEAH, over a hundred reviews! You guys rock! Thanks for the great reviews! Had some great concerns, opinions, comments, and predictions! Can't tell you guys much but I figure that I should give everyone two chapters! Once again, Saucebender thanks for being my beta girl! Currently she's knee deep in chapters that I have sent her. I was a writing freak!**

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* * *

_Katara stared at her reflection in the fountain. Her fingers dug into her head as she tried to force her unruly hair into a braid. Her hair had a mind of its own and it was able to force the braid undone as soon her fingers left her hair. She knew her hair did not want to be in the braid but she was doing it because Aang had mentioned that he liked it. She let out a growl and pulled her hair out of the braid. She preferred her hair down. She liked to feel it brushing past her shoulders and she liked to see the big curls when she looked in her reflection. Her braid made her feel like a little girl and Katara knew that she was not a little girl anymore. She was becoming a grown woman._

_A woman that was listening to a little boy like his opinion mattered._

_Katara smacked her hand on the water as she felt her frustration growing. She liked Aang but she was getting tired of pleasing him. Everything that she was doing was for him and she was getting nothing in return. She knew it was a selfish thought but she could not help feeling that way._

_Her frustrations with Aang started when he awoke on the Fire Nation ship. He was not happy that the world thought he was dead and he disappeared when he refused to go into hiding. Katara was outrage that Aang refused to hide his identity. Her irritation towards him intensified all of her other feelings. She felt hurt by her father, betrayed by Zuko, and angry at herself. She resented the fact that Aang refused to hide after she had to hide when she decided to help the Avatar save the world. _

_She swore that never again she would follow Aang's opinions when it came to her._

"_What's your problem?" a voice said behind her. _

_Katara cringed at the voice. She knew that voice. It belonged to the person that ripped her heart out. The person that was responsible for making her burst into tears whenever she was alone, but who she reluctantly agreed could stay at the Western Air Temple a couple of weeks ago. She loathed that person. _

"_Nothing Zuko," Katara snarled as she continued to stare at the fountain._

"_Right," Zuko drawled out and sat down on the opposite end of the fountain. _

"_Don't you have training to do?" Katara snapped. She turned her head so she would not stare into his eyes. She hated those beautiful amber eyes._

"_Aang deserves a break today," Zuko said calmly. That was another thing that she despised about him. He had been nice since he made the temple his home. Everyone liked him. "You didn't answer my question. What's your problem?" Katara could hear the irritation in his voice._

"_Why do you care?"_

"_Katara," Zuko whispered. She thought she heard a pained sadness in his voice. "You have been ripping your hair out of that braid for an hour." The smugness returned in his voice._

"_You've been watching me?" Katara shrilled. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Pervert."_

"_Yes, I'm a pervert," Zuko snorted as he laughed at her comment. "I want to bend you over this fountain and take you right here. I want you to scream my name."_

_The comment made them both blush and Katara could not believe that she was not furious. Zuko shifted uncomfortably in his spot and cleared his throat._

"_I don't really think like that," Zuko backpedalled. He glanced at the water and back at Katara. She could not help but smile at the banished prince's discomfort._

"_I know you don't," Katara laughed and decided to answer Zuko's question. "I'm trying to put my hair in the braid."_

"_I thought you like it down."_

"_I do," Katara answered stiffly. "But someone mentioned that they liked the braid better."_

_Zuko pursed his lips together and Katara knew that he had an idea who she was talking about. The look on his face was a mixture jealously and anger. Katara felt her heart sped up on the thought that Zuko might be jealous of Aang._

"_Take my advice," Zuko said grumpily. Katara wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but Zuko raised his hand to stop her. "Make your own choices. Let me be the example of listening to other people's expectations."_

_Katara was shocked. She was not expecting a sincere comment from the man that caused her so much pain. Zuko quickly stood up and began to walk away from her. Katara wanted to say something but nothing came to her mind. Zuko stopped walking and turned to hear._

"_Since you care about other people's opinions," Zuko said in a low voice. Katara could not detect any emotion in it. "I like it down."_

_Katara was speechless once again as she stared dumbly at Zuko as he walked away. Her mind was reeling over the fact that Zuko liked her hair down. Part of her wanted to believe that Zuko was trying to get her riled up but the other part of her wanted to believe his words. She looked at her reflection in the fountain again._

_Lunch was uneventful but Katara did not care. She had made her choice with her hair and she was happy with the decision. Her choice liberated her and it did not matter if one person hated it and the other liked it. _

_It was her decision, a grown woman's decision. _

_She scooped the rice into the bowls and handed them to her friends. Aang was the last person to receive his rice bowl and he tilted his head in confusion when he accepted his food._

"_I thought you were going to put your hair back in the braid?" Aang asked as he sat down._

"_I wanted it down," Katara said and started to eat her rice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko raised his eyebrow._

"_I liked it in the braid," Aang replied sadly._

"_I like it down!" Katara snapped. "Since it's my hair, I should decide what to do with it!"_

"_Ouch!" Toph laughed and pointed her chopsticks at Aang's general direction. "She put you in your place, Twinkle Toes!"_

_Katara turned her attention to her bowl and picked at her rice. She felt a little bad for snapping at Aang but he should not have any say about her hair. She felt someone was staring at her. She raised her head up expecting Aang to be looking at her. Katara was shocked to see Zuko staring at her. _

"_Selfish peasant," Zuko mouthed the words and gave her a triumphant smirk._

_She loathed him._

****

Katara stared at the gold hairpin in her hand. She could not understand why the hair ornamentation brought back a memory from the Western Air Temple.

One of Vianne's girls gave Katara the pin when she was assisting with the dressing. The girl said it was a gift from one of the clients that she did not serve anymore and she wanted to get rid of it. The pin was a simple design. It was about five inches long and made out of solid gold. Swirls and dots were imprinted on the pin. It was a pretty hairpin but Katara did not see the point of carrying it around. She did not feel that she deserved anything pretty.

"I should sell this," Katara said as her eyes continued to stare at the pin.

"Why?" Zuko asked as he looked up from his bowl.

"We need the money," Katara explained. It was a partial truth but she did not feel that she should explain any more. "We might need it for more supplies."

"That is a valid point," Zuko replied and set down his bowl. He reached over and gently took the pin out of her hands. Her heart sped up when his hand briefly touched hers. "It's made out of the purest gold. Only a few nobles can afford the purest gold."

"How much do you think we can get for this?"

"If this was sold in the Capitol," Zuko said as he played with the pin, "we would get at least a couple of pouches of gold pieces. Since we're going to sell it in a village, we might get five hundred gold pieces. We'll be lucky if we get one pouch." He looked up to her. "Did you sleep well?"

Katara knew it was pointless to lie to Zuko. He knew that she had a horrible night, she had thrashed about and murmured things under her breath. Zuko rubbed her back and whispered everything was going to be okay. She was thankful that he did not say anything when they woke before sunrise and kept his mouth closed as they walked through the forest. He had not spoken when they stop for lunch. In fact, he did not speak to her until she announced that she was going to sell the hairpin.

"No," Katara answered and immediately looked at her bowl. She did not want to see his eyes. Eyes that would show sadness, concern, or even worse, pity. "I'm keep seeing gold eyes, _his _eyes."

Her body began to shake as she tried to keep the tears back. She was tired of crying about a situation that she cannot remember. It has only been one night since she recovered from the drug and it felt like that Ozai still had control over her. Arms gently wrapped around her and pulled her into a chest. She sunk into the embrace and felt comforted. Since their _field trip_, Zuko always comforted her when she felt overwhelmed. He always pulled her away from the group and let her voice her frustrations. He never said a word and he always pull her into his arms afterwards. He always knew that listening was better than talking.

Then one night while being in Zuko's arms at the beach house, Katara realized that Aang never comforted her and he never would. It was the beginning steps to the realization that she did not hate Zuko; she was in love with him.

"It's over," Zuko whispered into her ear. "I promise that bastard would never touch you again."

"Spirits," Katara murmured as she wiped her eyes. She raised her head to look at him. "I'm sounding like a weak person."

"You're not weak," Zuko smiled. His finger wrapped around a brown curl and Katara felt her heart soar. She always loved the fact he played with her hair.

"Then what am I?"

"Being taken care of."

Katara felt the heat rushing to her face and instantly looked to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko's cheeks turn pink. He let go of her and forced out a cough.

"Um," Zuko said sheepishly as his hand went to the back of his head. "Um, I should look at the map. I think there's a village about a three day walk from here. Maybe you should make a list of things we might need once we sell the hairpin."

"Okay," Katara answered without looking up. Zuko quickly got to his feet and hurried to the pack to search for the map. She wiped her eyes again and began to think of supplies that she know that they will need on their travels.

****

He had overstepped his boundaries. Zuko believed that. He just could not figure out where he overstepped them. He had been figuring that out for three days now. There were a lot of answers but none of them was the right answer.

He racked his brain over why his body and mind seemed to believe that he belonged to Katara. That only he could truly make her happy by giving her everything she wants- and it was not because he was a prince. His heart was telling him that he could satisfy her every need, and his body painfully reminded him that he could satisfy her physically. He pushed that thought away with a mantra that was better than a cold shower.

_Katara belongs to Aang. _

Zuko let out a loud sigh and Katara quickly spun her head around.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked with a look of worry on her face. "You seem very uptight."

"I'm fine," Zuko answered gruffly. She raised an eyebrow and turned her head back focusing on the path.

Zuko returned to his thoughts. He had to figure out where he overstepped his boundaries. Zuko corrected himself; he _needed_ to figure this out. He needed to figure out how he fell in love with her.

_Love._ That is now the third time that word repeated in his head. He pinched the bridge of his nose and repeated the mantra in his mind.

_Katara belongs to Aang._

He forced himself to think what he did wrong. He dismissed the thought that sharing a bedroll with her for the last three days might be the reason. They had shared a bedroll during their _field trip_. They had even shared the same tent when they where with the Order of the White Lotus. Nothing happened between them, he just held her while she cried over Aang.

He also dismissed the thought that them kissing was the reason. The first time, she kissed him. The second time, they met halfway. The third time, she asked and he gladly accepted. He laughed at the thought that his dreams might be the culprit. The dreams were sexual and he just figured that he was a healthy young man.

A healthy young man with one hell of an imagination. An imagination that Zuko never thought existed.

_Katara belongs to Aang._

The mantra repeated in his head again and Zuko went back to thinking. It could not be the discussions that they had or the fights they had in the past. It was not the necklace, though it did play a major part in his dreams.

_Katara belongs to Aang._

Zuko raised his head up while the mantra kept repeating. His amber eyes focused on the black clad figure in front of him. The silks did not show Katara's shape but Zuko knew she had curves. He had seen it when she wore her Fire Nation outfit or her Water Tribe robe. He had felt it when she slept next to him and his hand rested on the graceful curve of her hip. He remembered how firm yet soft her skin was when his hands roamed all over her body. He saw that curvy shape when he was the enemy and then the ally.

His eyes rested at the ponytail that was pulled to the nape of her neck. It was not black, straight, and hung limply. Her hair was brown, curly, and had a mind of its own. Fire Nation women put a lot of product in their hair which made it hard to the touch. Katara's hair was soft and Zuko could not keep his hands out of it. He liked seeing it down and loose. He hated the braid that tightly held it back. He believed that her hair should be free and be able to move like her element.

_Fuck._

He remembered when they where at the Western Air Temple. He remembered when he watched Katara braid her hair at the fountain, secretly wishing that she kept it down. He remembered when he told her that he liked it that way, and how he tried his best to keep his emotions in check when she decided to leave it down. That was when he overstepped his boundaries.

"Zuko?" Katara asked sounding concern. "Did you hear a word I said?"

"What?" Zuko asked sheepishly. "Um, no."

"Are you okay?"

"What did you say?" Zuko asked sounding annoyed. Even though the annoyance was directed at himself, Katara thought it was directed to her.

"I said I see the village," Katara said icily. Her finger pointed at the tiny village at the bottom of the hill. "We should be there before dinner. Hopefully the shops will still be open."

"Then let's go."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Katara," Zuko grumbled. He stomped past the girl and headed down the hill. His mantra kept repeating in his head.

_Katara belongs to Aang._


	13. Chapter 13

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"The guy must have been a real asshole," the shopkeeper said as he inspected the gold hairpin.

Katara blinked her eyes at the strange man. She heard Zuko groan at the comment and muttered something under his breath. Her blue eyes continued to stare at the shopkeeper as he placed the hairpin between his teeth and bit down. Zuko reached out and ripped the hairpin out of the man's teeth. The shopkeeper yelped and rubbed his jaw.

"We didn't come here for an opinion," Zuko growled.

"I didn't mean to pry," the shopkeeper stammered. He knew he was losing potential business. "Just trying to make conversation."

"We don't want to converse," Zuko snapped.

"I do," Katara spoke up from Zuko's left. She knew she was standing in the wrong spot because Zuko had to completely turn around to face her.

Zuko was not looking forward entering the village because he was a wanted man, but he did not want Katara entering it alone either. Thinking quickly, Katara ripped up her black silk outer tunic into long strips and carefully wrapped the material around the left side of his head. After she was done, Zuko was unrecognizable with his left side of his face bandaged up. The downfall was the blind spot that was created from the silks.

"You what?"

"I want to hear his opinion," Katara said slowly. She was curious on why the man would mention another person.

"I was saying," the shopkeeper said rather quickly. "The guy you left must have been a real asshole."

"You're right," Katara said as she made a smile. She still had no clue what the man was talking about but if they got more money out of it, then she was willing to go along. "The man I left was really horrible."

"Katara," Zuko hissed into her ear. "You don't know what you are talking about."

"He must be," the shopkeeper smiled back. "I can't imagine any other reason why a pretty thing like you would leave a rich man for this one eyed pauper."

The shopkeeper instantly gulped when he felt the room went ten degrees colder. Katara narrowed her eyes and begin clenching her fists. The she felt a cool hand touch hers and she closed her eyes for a moment.

"I think we should take our business elsewhere," Katara growled when she opened her eyes. She took the hairpin out of Zuko's hand and began to leave the store.

"Wait!" the shopkeeper yelled as he watched his potential deal walking away. "I'll give you one hundred gold pieces!"

Katara stopped in her tracks when she heard the offer. They needed the money but one hundred gold pieces did not seem a lot after what the shopkeeper said. She began to think on what Toph would do if she was presented with this situation. A smirk appeared on the side of her face. She knew exactly what Toph would do.

The Blind Bandit would rob this man blind.

"What are you thinking?" Zuko hissed. He saw the smirk and he knew that was not a good sign.

"One pouch," Katara said and turned towards the shopkeeper. "I want one pouch of gold pieces."

"One!" the shopkeeper gasped. "That's a lot of money!"

"This hairpin is worth triple what I'm asking," Katara said in a haughty tone. "You want it, and I want to get rid of it. That is my final offer."

Katara held her breath as she watched the shopkeeper think about her offer. The old man scratched his chin, his eyes never leaving the hairpin in Katara's hand. The shopkeeper gave a shrug and stood up.

"Deal," the shopkeeper said and extended his hand. Katara took the hand and shook it.

"Deal," Katara smiled.

The shopkeeper put his hand under the counter and pulled out the pouch, throwing it onto the counter where it landed with a hard thud. Zuko scooped the pouch and opened it. He nodded to Katara that the money was there.

"You can count it if you want," the shopkeeper said with annoyance.

"That won't be necessary," Katara said and handed the shopkeeper the hairpin. She took Zuko's hand and left the shop.

"That was interesting," Zuko said sounding impressed. "I never thought you had that in you."

"I've picked up some things from Toph," Katara replied cryptically. Her eyes fell on a clothing store. "Let's get some new clothing. The silks are way too nice for traveling."

"Plus, we need to blend in more," Zuko agreed. "People would remember two teenagers dressed in fine silk but they won't remember two teenagers dressed liked them."

The two benders entered the store and made their selections. Katara picked out a red cotton sleeveless wrap, a long sleeve black shirt and red pants. Zuko just picked out a pair of black pants and a burgundy tunic. They each found a pair of sturdy shoes, then paid for the items and headed to a side alley to change their clothes. Zuko stood at the entrance at the ally keeping his good eye focused on the crowd while Katara quickly changed into her clothes. She did the same for him and once he came out of the ally, they walked to the general store for some supplies.

****

"What was he talking about?" Katara asked as she shifted through some dry fruit.

"Who?"

"The shopkeeper," Katara said and picked up a bag of raisins. The dried fruit became her favorite because it reminded her of steamed sea prunes. "Did he know who we are?"

"No," Zuko said and glanced out of the window. He did not like the way the villagers began crowding in the village green. He could hear the murmuring from the crowd.

"Then why?" Katara asked as she placed dried apricots in the basket along with the raisins.

"The hairpin was an engagement piece," Zuko answered still looking out of the window. "The suitor gives a hairpin or a haircomb to his intended."

"I don't understand," Katara said looking at Zuko. "I saw a little girl with her hair pulled back with a comb." She wrinkled her nose at him. "Do Fire Nation women marry young?"

"Fire Nation women marry when they turn of age, which is sixteen. I think it's the same in the Earth Kingdom," Zuko answered still looking through the window. "The little girl was wearing a non-decorative comb. Betrothal pieces are heavily decorative. That's the difference."

"Water Tribes are at fifteen," Katara said with a huff. "I was lucky because I was traveling with Aang." She let out a frustrated sigh that Zuko did not look at her during the whole conversation. "What's so damn interesting?"

"Did you say _damn_?" Zuko turned his head to Katara. He was shock to hear her say that. It was not like her to swear. Katara placed her hand on her hip and shifted her weight to the right. Zuko figured he should answer the question. "Something is causing the villagers to panic."

Katara turned her attention to the crowd and realized that Zuko was right. Something was causing the crowd to panic. She saw people crying and yelling out obscenities. The crowd slowly parted and a soldier was seen. He was wearing the traditional uniform of the Fire Nation Navy and over his right breast was his ranking and over the ranking was a symbol. Katara squint her eyes to see the symbol better. It was two horizontal anchors and between the two anchors where two red stars. In the anchors was the Fire Nation symbol.

"Shit," Zuko said and began pulling Katara farther into the general store. "That's one of Turin's men."

Katara's heart began to pound when Turin's name was mentioned. She dropped her basket and the goods spilled over the floor. She did not bother to pick them up as Zuko pushed her to an isolated area of the store. She calmed down when she looked into Zuko's good eye. The amber eye narrowed and she could see the determination in it.

Katara knew she would be safe.

"There's an exit right over there," Zuko pointed an opening behind a counter. "Leave when I tell you. Don't stop and wait for me. Just keep moving."

"No," Katara whispered and shook her head. "You are not leaving me."

"I'll catch up," Zuko promised and handed her the pack and the swords. Katara knew it was an empty promise.

Zuko gave her a quick hug and headed back to the front of the store. Katara shifted uncomfortably in her spot as she gazed at the items surrounding her. She was standing in the scented oils section. She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart and that was when she smelled it. A scent that smelled eerily familiar. Her stomach churned and her body trembled.

_Ozai._

****

The sailor was gone but the crowd was still at the village green. Zuko casually walked out of the general store and looked around the best as he can. The streets were clear and he did not see anymore of Turin's men. Being cautious, Zuko decided that it would be best to stay in the village for a night. He thought he saw an inn not to far from the general store. The crowd at the village green was growing and Zuko could feel the emotions brewing. He prayed that there would not be a riot.

He was curious on what the sailor posted on the board in the village green. He could see the people pointing at a piece of paper and yelling. Some of the women were crying and started to pray. The men were yelling at each other and items caught on fire.

A sound of glass breaking behind him made him forgot about the posting. He knew exactly where that sound came from. It was from the small area that Katara was at. Fear was growing in him as he rushed to the area. The only thought that came to his head was that the sailor did see them and snuck in from behind.

"Ma'am?" the saleslady asked as Zuko approached the isolated area. "Are you okay?"

Zuko saw Katara on her knees with her arms wrapped around her body. She was rocking back and forth taking deep breaths. The saleslady was leaning over Katara trying to calm her down but it was making the situation worse. A half sob and half scream came out of her mouth.

"Love?" Zuko called out and rushed to Katara's side. He kneeled next to her and put his arm around her. She was shaking and her body was unnaturally cold. "Love, can you hear me?" He looked up to the saleslady. "What happened?"

"I don't know," the saleslady said with worry. "I just heard the glass shattering and she was kneeling on the floor."

"He's here!" Katara screamed with hysteria. Zuko saw that her eyes were dilated. "He's here! I can smell him!"

At first, Zuko did not know what Katara was talking about. He looked around the store to see anyone was there. The only people in the store were him, Katara, and the saleslady. He could not understand what was causing Katara's distress, and then he smelled it.

Sandalwood, Ozai's preferred scented oil.

Katara kept on mumbling as she rocked back and forth. Zuko tried talking to her but she did not answer him. All that was going through her mind was that Ozai was here. Her nightmare was going to start again.

"I should get the healer!" the saleslady said.

Zuko grabbed her arm and shook his head. "She's needs to rest," Zuko explained. "We have been traveling nonstop for days." The saleslady raised her eyebrow. For a moment, Zuko thought the saleslady saw through his lie.

"If you go out the back door," the saleslady said. "There's an inn about a hundred feet from here."

Zuko thanked the saleslady and got to his feet. He slung the pack over his shoulder and strapped his swords on his back. Katara slowly got to her feet with the assistance of Zuko and the saleslady. She leaned into Zuko and he wrapped his arm around her waist, making sure that she was secured. They exited out of the store and the saleslady pointed to the direction where the inn was located. Zuko thanked her again and promise to return and pay for the broken merchandise.

The inn that the saleslady suggested was very tiny and falling apart. Zuko lead Katara into the lobby and asked for a room. The surprised innkeeper hurried down the hall and opened the door for Zuko. The room was dirty and dusty. Pushing back the disgust, Zuko gently sat Katara down on the bed and paid the innkeeper. The innkeeper's eyes went wide when he saw the gold piece and began cleaning the room. Zuko stopped the man and gently told him that the room was fine and he can keep the change. The innkeeper gave a weak nod and before he left, he glanced at Katara and gave a worried look.

Zuko sat on the bed and gently took her hand. He let out a sigh and brought her hand to his lips. Katara flinched at the action but she did not pull her hand away. He kept her hand pressed against his lips as he tried to figure out what happened. The scent of sandalwood sent Katara into a panic.

_Must be her subconscious remembering, _Zuko thought as he laid her hand down on her lap. He was filled with dread when new questions popped up. _What else could trigger this? How long will she have this? Is this permanent?_

Katara slowly blinked her eyes and let out a huge breath of air as she looked around the room. Confusion was written all over her face as she tried to process how she ended up there.

"Zuko?" Katara asked. Her eyes where focused now but he could tell she was still shaken up. "How did we get here?"

"You panicked."

"I remember a scent," Katara said, her voice above a whisper. "The scent triggered something in my mind. I was consumed with voices and I could see his eyes." Her body began to shake. "When is this going to end?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Zuko answered. He grabbed her hand and smiled when she clutched it. "I can't lie to you and say it will end soon."

"I'm scared," Katara said as she looked at their hands. She liked the contrast of their skin when their hands intertwined. "I'm afraid this would happen again without any warning."

"I promised that I will protect you," Zuko whispered. He tightened his grip around her hand. "I will be there for you. You are not going to go through this alone." He let go of her hand. "You need to rest. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"We left our supplies back in the store," Zuko answered and exited the room.

He went to the lobby and told the innkeeper that he will be back shortly. He also told the innkeeper that no one should disturb Katara. Zuko headed out of the inn and towards the store. He did promise the saleslady that he would pay for the damages.

But first, he was going to see what that Turin's sailor posted in the village green.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi everybody! This time I'm posting two! I had some great reviews last time! Just want to answer a question that popped up several times, why is this story taking so long to post? Answer: Because I have rewritten the next several chapters over ten times, sadly some are over twenty! Let's just say I'm becoming very obessive with this story! Please be patient with me!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Katara placed her head in her hands. She took a deep breath as she pushed back the disturbing thoughts out of her mind. She could still hear the laughter of Ozai's voice.

_You cared for him, _Ozai's taunting voice echoed in her mind.

"Stop!" Katara shouted as she gripped her hair. "Just stop! I'm not going let you win!" She pushed back the tears and tried in vain to slow down her racing heart. Wanting to splash some water on her face, Katara gingerly stood up and took her time walking to the wash basin on the other side of the room.

She made a quick hand movement to get the water out of the basin but the water did not budge from its spot. A frown formed on her face as she tried it again, and again the water did not move. Anger, then worry, and finally panic went through the waterbender as she kept trying to get the water out of the basin. What felt like her twentieth time, the water slowly came out of the basin. Relief went through her but her fears quickly returned. The water felt heavy and her arms screamed in protest as she tried to move the tiny orb towards her. It was a simple waterbending move she was doing but it felt completely foreign. Sweat poured down her face and Katara had to force the water back into the basin before it splashed all over the floor.

Katara stared at the basin with wide eyes. With a frustrated scream, she pushed the basin over. The ceramic piece made a loud thud when it hit the ground and water splashed everywhere. Katara let out a loud shriek and dropped to the floor. She panted hard as she watched the last remaining drop of water seeped into the dry wood.

She could not bend.

_Relax, _Katara thought to herself. _This is probably temporary. You were drugged for two months. Just take it a day at a time._ Her thoughts did not comfort her.

"Miss?" a voice said through the door. "Are you okay?"

Katara quickly went to her feet and hurried to the door. She opened the door and saw a tiny man staring at her with bright yellow eyes. He peered around her body with a worried look on his face.

"I heard a noise," the innkeeper said as he wrung his hands.

"I'm fine," Katara said with a forced smile. "I just accidently knocked the water basin over."

"Okay," the innkeeper said slowly. He gave her a sad look. "Do you need help picking it up?"

"No thank you," Katara replied and quickly shut the door. She leaned against the door and heard the innkeeper slowly walking away.

The tiny room felt like it was getting smaller. Katara had to leave and get some fresh air. She needed to find Zuko. She swung the door open and ran to the lobby. She asked the innkeeper for directions to the store and quickly left the inn.

****

The village green still had a small crowd of people when Zuko approached. They were still milling around the posting and talking to themselves. He walked up to an old woman who was dabbing her eyes.

"Excuse me," Zuko asked politely. "What's going on?"

"You didn't hear the news?" the old woman gasped. She was still pale from reading the posting. "The rumors are true!"

"What rumors?" Zuko asked now sounding agitated. "What news?"

"The executions!" the old woman cried out. "Our Lord has been executing his own people!"

Zuko felt his mouth go dry. Sokka had told him that the Fire Nation became unstable since the comet and Ozai was becoming paranoid. Never once did the Water Tribe warrior mentioned about executions. He pushed people out of the way to see the list. Dread filled in him as his finger trailed down the list of names until it stopped at two.

Mai and Ty Lee.

"No," Zuko whispered as he read the names again. Hot angry tears rimmed his eye as he threw his fist into the board. "NO!"

"Fuck," Zuko heard one man said. "He knew someone on that list."

Zuko dropped to his knees and covered his face with both hands. His body shook but no sob came out. Part of him knew that they where going to die but he still cannot believe that it actually happened. There were things he wanted to tell Mai but now he never will.

At a very young age, Zuko was told that he was going to marry Mai. She was betrothed to him when she was a baby and the girl was grooming to be the perfect Fire Lady; beautiful, silent, and deadly. She was many firsts in his life; first touch, first kiss, and first time making love. Before his banishment, Zuko convinced himself that he loved Mai. Once he returned to the Fire Nation; he realized something was not right with the relationship. Their kisses were awkward. Their "lovemaking" was uncomfortable. She sucked the life out of him and he realized that he never loved Mai. She was just a friend.

He was upset that Ozai reestablished their engagement. Zuko wanted to end it. He rather have an endless line of women coming into his bed chamber every night instead of being in a loveless marriage. It was not fair for Mai. Zuko thought he had a way out of the engagement when he found out that Mai had a lover from Omashu. He never knew the man's name but it was enough to end the engagement. He would confront Mai about it and give her a choice; end the engagement now or have a public embarrassment. He mentioned it briefly in the letter that he wrote to her when he left to join Aang.

Zuko regretted not returning to Boiling Rock. He should have turned back and rescue Mai and Ty Lee. He could not imagine what kind of abuse they went through from Azula. He voiced his concerns to Katara one night and she told him that he did the right thing even though it was hard. The prison would be expecting him to come back and make the exact same escape attempt. She smiled and told him that once this war was over, she would go with him and free them. It was a promise that Zuko knew that Katara would keep. Her blue eyes burned with determination when she said it.

He barely heard the conversations above his head. His mind was racking over the fact that Mai was gone and she will never come back. His body stiffened then lax when a familiar warm hand touched his shoulder. He looked up and through his blurry vision he saw Katara hovering over his right. Her blue eyes were an aquamarine color and Zuko knew that she was crying. Her eyes always turn that color when she cries.

"Mai," Zuko whispered hoarsely. He hung his head down in defeat. Katara kneeled in front of him and cupped his face with her hands.

"I know," Katara whispered. She pressed her lips to his forehead. "I know."

"I'm going to kill him."

"I know."

"I want him to burn."

"I know."

Zuko fell into Katara's shoulder and she gently wrapped her arms around him. She slowly rocked him while onlookers asked if he was okay. Katara reassured everyone and gently pulled Zuko to his feet. People parted as they watched the beautiful girl support the boy with the bandaged face.

Katara managed to lead Zuko back to their room. He sat down on the bed and Katara kneeled in front of him. Her hands rested on his legs and gave them a reassuring pat. He pulled the silk wrappings off of his head and tossed them across the room. His fist slammed into the bed and let out a yell. Ozai was taking everything away from him; first his mother, then Katara, and now Mai.

_No, Katara's here, _Zuko thought as he pulled her into a tight hug. _I saved her from him._

"Zuko," Katara said sadly. "I'm so sorry about Mai."

"She wasn't supposed to die," Zuko answered and buried his head into her shoulder. "If only I saved her from Boiling Rock or just ended it and sent her back to Omashu."

"You know you couldn't go back to Boiling Rock," Katara replied rubbing his back. "Breaking up with her would not protect her."

"Ending the engagement would have."

"Zuko," Katara said and pulled away from the embrace. Her blue eyes were filled with hurt and when she spoke; her voice wavered a little bit. "I didn't know that you and Mai were serious."

"It was an arranged marriage," Zuko answered. He really wanted to tell Katara that his relationship with Mai was nothing compare to what they have. "It was just politics."

"But you loved her."

"Once," Zuko whispered. "I loved her once."

"She still has a place in your heart," Katara said. She placed her hand over Zuko's heart, just above his scar.

Zuko pulled Katara in another tight embrace. His hands clutched the back of her wrap. Tears streamed down his face as he sobbed into her hair. Katara held him close and cried with him.

_Mai may have a place in my heart but you consume it all._

****

"Should we be concern?"

The archer smirked at his comrade's comment. They have been following their prince and the waterbender since they had received their orders. The couple was hard to track and the archers were excepting that. They would have been very disappointed in their prince if they found him right away. The archer thought for sure they had lost the couple until one of their scouts reported that there was a one eye pauper and a beautiful socialite staying in the village not to far where they were camping.

The feminine voice went louder and the archer heard two of his comrades chuckling behind him. The waterbender was very bold in arguing with their prince. The two had been fighting since they left the village and judging by the body language of the prince and the waterbender, this was not their first fight and definitely not their last. Their prince would roll his eyes and give a snappy comment and the waterbender would make a tight frown and let out a scoff. The archer swore he could see the icy glare that she would give their prince. The glare alone would freeze any man but somehow their prince simply let it roll of his back.

"No," the archer answered the question as he watched the two stop walking. "It appears that they have fought before."

"No shit," his comrade snorted. They watched their prince gave the waterbender a dirty look before thrusting his sword towards her. The waterbender began hacking through the brush. The comrade gave a low whistle of appreciation. "Her form is wrong but her swing is nice."

"Come on," the archer waved to his group. "She's heading towards the clearing."

The archers moved silently through the woods and positioned themselves near the clearing. They prepared their bows and waited patiently for their targets. The tension in the group could have been cut with a knife. They did not want to attack their prince but they were given orders and they have to follow their orders.

"Why are we doing this?" one archer whispered as he voiced the question in everyone's mind.

"General Iroh ordered us to follow Admiral Turin's order," the archer whispered back.

"Why can't we protect them?" the same archer asked. "They would be safe with us."

"Do you remember when the prince was banished?" the archer asked. The other archer shook his head. "A majority of his supporters disappeared. I won't be surprised if they are dead. If the Fire Lord or the admiral finds out that we are helping the prince and the waterbender, then we would be dead."

"Forcing them west is a death sentence!"

"Prince Zuko is trained in survival and Master Katara had traveled the world. They can handle this."

"Still," the second archer grumbled.

"I agree," the archer said. "But we can't let anyone know that we support Prince Zuko, including himself. Twisted as it sounds, it's for the best."

The archer's eyes focused on the couple that entered the clearing. He signaled his men to pull back their arrows. His yellow eyes stared at the waterbender as she sat on the ground and rubbed her shoulder. He noticed that the prince tilted his head and raised his hand up to the waterbender. The prince knew that they were being watched.

The archer gave the signal to shoot.

****

"Why can't we go west?" Katara asked as she swatted a branch out of her way.

"First of all," Zuko said through clenched teeth as he hacked through the underbrush with one of his swords. "It's out of our way." He stopped to stretch his sore arm. "Second of all, it's dangerous."

"You keep saying that," Katara retorted. "But you never explained _why_ it's dangerous."

Zuko bit back a curse as he started to hack through the brush again. After the tears were dried, Zuko and Katara talked about what happened after the incident at the store. Zuko told Katara about Turin's men are in the area and are probably a day ahead of them. Katara told Zuko that her bending was weak. Not wanting to deal with Turin's men with a weak waterbender, Zuko pulled out the map and suggested that they should hike through the woods in a northeastern direction so they would not be spotted. Katara suggested that they should head west and follow the coastline until they reach their destination. Zuko quickly dismissed the suggestion. Since then, the two have been arguing nonstop.

"Because the western region is not controlled by the Fire Nation," Zuko explained.

"So?"

"There's no law," Zuko continued as he hacked through the brush. "It's every man for himself. Like I said before, you are my priority."

"What about the coastline?" Katara asked as she let the blush appear on her face.

"The coastline is dangerous. It's all cliffs and we will be exposed," Zuko stopped again and rubbed his shoulder. "Since your bending is weak, we have no defense if we are attack."

"So you want us to hack through the woods and pray that Turin and his men won't catch us," Katara spat. "_Brilliant_." She let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh for spirits sake! Give me the damn sword!"

Zuko glared at Katara before handing her the sword. He stayed a few feet behind while she hacked her way through the brush. He was quite impressed that Katara could handle the heavy sword and be able to swing her way through the wooded area. Not used to handling such a heavy weapon, Katara began slowing down. Luckily she was able to hack her way to a small clearing.

"How can you handle that?" Katara panted while she handed the sword back to Zuko. She sat down and began rubbing her sore shoulder. "I only used it for a few minutes and my arm is killing me!"

Zuko did not answer. Something about this area of the woods did not feel right. He could still hear the animals chattering away but he could feel the uneasiness. It felt like someone was watching them.

"Zuko?" Katara called out. She was confused why Zuko was standing at the edge of the clearing tilting his head to the right. He had a small frown on his face. "Zuko?"

"Quiet," Zuko murmured and held up his hand. "Something is not right."

Katara perked her ears up and listen to the woods. While growing up in the South Pole, Sokka had taught her how to listen to her surroundings. He explained that even though there was noise around them, you can always find the stillness of something or someone following you. Katara practiced it a lot during her travels but she never could pick up the so called stillness that Sokka explained.

Until now.

The hairs on the back of her neck started to stand up. It felt like someone was staring at her. She did not know where the intruder was standing. She had a feeling that Zuko knew where the intruder was because he began twitching his fingers. His amber eyes turned to a dark brown as he stared over her head. Katara began to take steady breaths to calm her racing heart. The forest suddenly went quiet and Katara's heart drop. Something was going to attack.

"Roll!" Zuko shouted and punched his fists in the air. Fireballs flew past her head as she rolled towards him. An arrow imbedded itself into the ground where Katara was sitting. Zuko pulled Katara to her feet and grabbed her hand. "Let's go!"

Zuko only moved a foot when another arrow pierced the ground in front of him. Katara let out a loud gasp as Zuko tugged her to a different direction. Arrows kept appearing in front of him every time he moved forward. The only option was to head west. Firing another fireball, Zuko dragged Katara away from the clearing.

Branches and bushes slapped across their faces as they ran blindly into the woods. They stumbled over twigs and rocks. They kept running until they felt their lungs were going to burst. Zuko pushed Katara behind a large tree and pressed himself against her as he listened for any signs of their attackers. All he can hear was the thundering pounding of Katara's heart.

Or was it his?

Minutes have past and Zuko peeled himself off of Katara. He put his finger to his lips to signal Katara to be quiet and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He could not feel the stillness that bothered him earlier. It looked like they lost their attackers.

"Who or what was that?" Katara asked between breaths. She leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees. The cool air was making her lungs burn.

"Yu Yan archers," Zuko replied not letting his guard down. "Apparently Turin hired them to find us."

"Yu Yan," Katara repeated as she began to think. "I've heard of them! Aang told me that they captured him while Sokka and I were sick."

"Yeah, I know," Zuko muttered. He relaxed his guard when he knew that they were not being followed.

"How do you know?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, Aang told me while we were training at the Western Air Temple," Zuko lied. He wanted to smack himself. He may be trained by the best that the military have to offer but he was still horrible at lying through his teeth.

"Okay," Katara said with disbelief. She had a strange feeling that Zuko was hiding something. She let the lie go and focus on the most important issue right now, where to go. "So what now?"

"You get your wish. We're heading west," Zuko answered and looked for the pack. "Where's the pack?"

Katara spun her head around and looked for the missing object. Everything they needed was in that pack; the food, the water, their bedrolls, and their money. She remembered that she gave the pack to Zuko when he gave her the sword. She remembered Zuko dropping the pack when they came to the tiny clearing to rest. Then everything became a blur when the Yu Yan archers attacked. Big sapphire eyes met narrow amber eyes.

"Fuck!" they both said in unison.


	15. Chapter 15

**I had fun with the dialogue in this chapter! **

**Enjoy & Review**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Aang leaned over the railing and looked at the dark blue water. It has taken over a week for the Earth Kingdom Army to capture three ports. Once they had received word that the ports where captured, the airship took off heading towards the Capitol. Originally, Aang was going to fly on Appa but Sokka suggested it would be better if Appa stayed in the cargo hold and rest. It took some coaxing for the large beast to go inside but the animal was won over by the huge stack of hay.

_At least someone's happy, _Aang mumbled as he looked at the grey sliver of the moon. He heard laughing and looked over his shoulder. Toph was standing next to Cree and the captain was laughing at something that Toph said. _Make that two._

"Avatar!" Cree called out and gave a wave. "Come over here! Dust Bunny is claiming that you chickened out in an Earth Rumble match!"

"Dust bunny!" Toph yelled out, crossing her arms. "You are forgetting _Cappie_ that I can metalbend your ass to this balloon!"

"Only if you knew where the balloon is," Cree retorted.

"I know it's up!"

Aang laughed at the two as he made his way to them. Since their first meeting, Toph and Cree became fast friends. At first, Aang thought the friendship was a little odd. Toph was an earthbender and brash at everything she does. Cree was a nonbender and was completely proper. But Aang soon learn that if you put those two in the same room, Cree was just as brash as Toph while Toph was just as proper as Cree.

_Two peas in a pod, _Iroh would say to Aang when Cree bark at something at Toph which made the blind earthbender to blush.

He was in the middle of his version on what happened during the Earth Rumble when Sokka walked up to the group. Aang noticed that the warrior looked tired. Sokka had been working nonstop in planning the invasion and every possible detail that could go wrong.

"Change of plans," Sokka said with a smile. "We are going to Plan C."

"Plan C?" Toph asked with confusion. "When did we go to Plan B?"

"Skipping Plan B."

"We always had a Plan B!" Aang cried out. He stopped for a moment and scratched his head. "Did we always have a Plan B?"

"Not really," Sokka answered and pulled out a piece of parchment. "I've been making it up as we go along."

"I knew it!" Toph shouted and pointed at Sokka's general direction. "I knew that you were pulling things out of your ass!"

"I'm lost," Cree replied.

"You get use to it," Sokka answered and opened up the parchment. He missed the blank stare from the young captain. "This just came from Iroh. His associates have sent their replies and they will be helping us out."

"Associates?" Aang asked.

"Apparently there are a lot of members in the Order of the White Lotus," Sokka said with a wave of his hand. "A small crew is heading towards Ba Sing Se to help out Iroh, Suki, and dad. The rest are waiting for us."

"Who are they?" Cree asked as he started rubbing his forehead.

"The Fire Nation military."

"What?" Aang shouted. Toph and Cree tripped over their words. "You are telling me that the Fire Nation military is helping us out!"

"Not all of them," Sokka replied with a shrug. "Only the ones that support Iroh and Zuko."

"How many?" Cree asked sounding impress with Plan C.

"Just under five hundred."

"Under five hundred?" Toph repeated. "This is not Plan C, Snoozles. This is Plan Stupid!"

"I'm taking Toph's side with that one," Aang said.

"I agree," Cree answered.

"Come on guys!" Sokka shouted and stomped his foot. "This will work out! We're Team Avatar!"

"Who?"

"I'll tell you later, Cappie."

"We should be arriving to the port before midday," Sokka said as he looked at the crescent moon. "From there, we will be on our way to the Capitol. Get some sleep." Sokka rolled up the parchment and placed it in his pocket. He waved at the trio before he walked down the gangplank.

"I should meditate," Aang said and gave a slight bow to Toph and Cree.

Toph listened to Aang walked down the gangplank before she let out a snort. She could fell the anger that was brewing in him. She knew who the anger was directed at and she was disappointed that Aang would not look past it. He was still in love with the waterbender that does not love him.

"Lady Bei Fong?" Cree asked sounding unsure.

"What is it Cappie?"

"Who's Team Avatar?"

****

_Aang opened his eyes and looked around. The last thing he remembered was that he was meditating on the airship and now he was at the Fire Nation Palace. He slowly got to his feet and walked down the Palace's halls. The grounds were completely empty and silent. There was no one present._

"_Hello?" Aang called out. There was no echo. "Is anyone here?"_

"_Avatar Aang," a voice called out. _

_Aang followed the voice to an open courtyard. Standing in the center of the courtyard was a man dressed in a long Fire Nation robe. His beard matched his long silver hair and on top of his head was a crown. The old man gave him a slight smile._

"_Avatar Roku," Aang said and gave a traditional bow. Roku returned the gesture. "Why did you summon me?"_

"_You had failed Aang," Roku said with disappointment._

"_The world didn't burn to the ground," Aang defended. "We saved the world."_

"_Your friends saved the world," Roku corrected. "Fire Lord Ozai is still alive."_

"_I couldn't kill him!" Aang shouted. "It's against my beliefs to kill, no matter how just the cause was!"_

"_Fire Lord Ozai has to die!" Roku shouted back. "You cannot take away his bending and throw him in a cell. If he keeps on living, the world is doomed to end!"_

"_There has to be another answer!"_

"_There's no other answer!" Roku roared. The older Avatar let out a loud sigh before speaking again. "Aang, it's important that you go into the Avatar State."_

"_I can't," Aang said sounding defeated. "I can't give up something that is important to me."_

"_You have to!" Roku urged. "The world needs you!"_

"_What about my needs!" Aang shouted in frustration. "Why should I give up what I need?"_

"_Because you don't need her!"_

_Aang took a step back from Roku. The older Avatar was breathing heavily and his jolly amber eyes went brown. The glare he was giving reminded Aang of someone._

_Someone he cannot place right now._

"_I need her," Aang whispered softly._

"_The world needs you."_

****

Aang opened his eyes and found himself staring at the candles in his room. He thought about what Roku said to him. Once again the older Avatar told him to kill Ozai. This time he gave an explanation. If Ozai does not die, then the world is doomed. Aang let out an unsteady sigh. Once again he has to choose what was right; his beliefs or what everyone expects. He brought his knees under his chin. Roku said he have to give up something important. He did not need it right now. Aang believed that Roku was wrong.

"How can I give up the woman I love," Aang scoffed. "We're supposed to be together."

The one thing that Avatar Roku had right was the need to go into the Avatar State. Aang knew he could not defeat Ozai without it. He slowly got up and grabbed his staff.

He needed to find Guru Pathik.

He needed to tell his friends.

****

Sokka let out a huge yawn while his fingers drummed on the metal table. One of the soldiers woke the warrior up from his deep slumber by saying that Aang wanted to talk to him. He cursed at the young monk for wanting to talk to him so late in the night but Sokka forced himself out of the bed and walked to the meeting room.

It was an odd feeling being back in the airship. The last time he was on one, he was dangling over the ledge with Toph and a bummed out knee. His mind drifted off to Suki and The Duke. He left them behind to defend Ba Sing Se. His heart tugged when he thought about them.

_I'll see them soon_, Sokka thought as a smile formed on his face. _I promised The Duke that we will go ice dodging._

"Please tell me you are thinking about Warrior Princess," Toph remarked when she entered the room.

"Actually, I was thinking about The Duke," Sokka answered as he watched Toph sit down and prop her feet on the table.

"Pervert," Toph smiled. Sokka was going to make a retort but she cut him off. "Here comes Cappie."

"Good evening, General," Cree announced and gave a salute. Sokka returned the gesture. He turned his head towards Toph and gave an evil smirk. "Good evening, Dust Bunny."

Toph let out a grunt and gave Cree the middle finger. Sokka raised an eyebrow and looked at both of them. He would have to hear the story after the war. Aang finally came into the room and gave everyone a weak smile.

"I'm sorry that I woke everyone up," Aang apologized.

"You said it was important," Sokka said, waving off the apology. "Sleep can wait."

"It is," Aang said with a sigh. "I'm leaving." The room went silent.

"What about the invasion?" Cree asked breaking the silence.

"I'll be back in time for the invasion," Aang answered looking at Cree. "I need to go into the Avatar State and I have to meditate."

"Why can't you meditate here?" Toph asked. The way she was looking at him, Aang knew she could tell something was up.

"I need to meditate at the Eastern Air Temple."

"Wasn't the guru at the Eastern Air Temple?" Sokka asked slowly.

"Yes," Aang said. "He might still be there." He let out a sigh. "I haven't been honest with you."

"What are you talking about?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The reason why I couldn't go into the Avatar State," Aang started. "I was supposed to give up something that was important to me but I couldn't."

Toph and Cree exchanged glances. Sokka saw the exchange and felt his body going cold. He feared that Aang was going to say what he has been dreading to hear. The fear was quickly replaced by anger. He was going to choke the young monk if what he thought was true.

"What couldn't you give up?" Sokka said; his voice had a hint of anger. Toph moved uncomfortably in her seat. Cree kept his eyes on Sokka.

"Snoozles," Toph said in a calm voice. It was unlike her to be so calm. "There's nothing to get angry at."

"This is something to get angry at," Sokka spat. He pointed his finger at Aang. "Are you trying to tell me that this war would have been over months ago?"

"Yes."

Sokka jumped to his feet and glared at Aang. Toph and Cree also jumped up and slowly moved to each boy. Cree moved towards Sokka and Toph moved towards Aang.

"What were you supposed to give up?" Sokka snarled as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

"You have to understand!" Aang shouted back. "You would have done the same!"

"Damnit Aang!" Sokka growled and banged his fist on the table. "Are you going to tell me or do I have to take a fucking guess?"

"Katara," Aang said softly. His grey eyes began to water. "I have to give up Katara."

Sokka let out a yell and lunged over the table. Cree moved fast and pinned the warrior to the wall. Sokka cursed and struggled under Cree's grasp. His dark blue eyes never left Aang.

"You fucking jerk!" Sokka shouted as he continued to struggle. "You fucking selfish jerk!"

"Sokka!" Aang yelled as he held back his tears. "I couldn't because I love her!"

"Does she love you back?" Sokka shouted. "Did she say that? I don't think so! She would have told you to forget about her so the world can be saved."

"I know Katara loves me!" Aang yelled. He lunged forward but Toph held him back.

"How do you know?" Sokka ranted. "Maybe she loves Zu---ACK!" Cree closed his hand around Sokka's throat.

"_General_," Cree hissed into Sokka's ear. "This is not the best time to reveal secrets."

"What?" Aang said in a low voice.

"Leave," Sokka answered when Cree released him from the wall. He turned his back from Aang. "Just get out of here." Aang narrowed his eyes at Sokka and quickly left the room.

Toph felt the monk's footsteps heading to the cargo hold. "That was stupid," Toph growled. "Not only you almost broke Twinkle Toes's heart, you just kicked him out of the airship."

"He was going to leave anyways," Sokka snarled. He ran his hand through his hair. "We fought this battle without him." He slammed his fist into the wall. "I can't believe him! Katara became an object because he was selfish!"

"He's a child," Cree replied. "He wasn't force to grow up in this war like the rest of us."

"That doesn't excuse him."

"It doesn't," Toph agreed. "But the last couple of months have been forcing him to grow up somewhat."

"And look where that got him!" Sokka spat and spun around. "Look where it got all of us!"

"I'm not going to argue with you," Toph said and narrowed her eyes. "You're hurt and you want to take it out on someone. I refused to be that person." She headed to the door. "Cappie? Can you escort me back to my room?"

"You can find your own damn room!" Sokka snarled.

"My pleasure," Cree said and gave Sokka a dirty look. He walked up to Toph and placed her arm around his. "Get some rest General. You will have a clear mind tomorrow."

Sokka watched Cree and Toph leave the room. The warrior grabbed his chair and threw it against the wall. Tears pricked at his eyes as he tried to control his temper that was brewing. He stormed out of the room and headed back to his cabin.

For the first time since knowing Aang, Sokka despised the young airbender.


	16. Chapter 16

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* * *

Sapphire eyes stared at the banished prince meditating near the small stream. His long legs were folded into a lotus position and his hands lay gently on his knees with the palms facing up. She watched his chest rise slowly up and then down, like he was keeping time with the gentle breeze that played with his shaggy ebony hair. It was amazing that a man with very little patience would have the patience to meditate. Zuko has been known to meditate for hours.

During their stay at the Western Air Temple, Katara was so angry at him for being so calm that she stormed into her room and tried to meditate. She figured that if he could be calm, then she would be even calmer. She had a lot of patience! Sadly, she found mediating irritating and ended up taking her anger out on everyone.

Her face heated up when she realized that she was blatantly staring, Katara tore her eyes away from Zuko and returned to the project in her lap. She was trying to turn her black cotton long sleeve shirt into a pack.

For a week now, they have been following a tiny stream in the western region. They have been eating nuts and berries around them and hunted small game when needed. Zuko would practice with his swords in the morning and Katara would practice her waterbending at night. She was improving but the weakness still irritated her. She was used to summoning water in seconds not minutes. The safety of the woods began to thin out and Zuko mentioned that it would be a matter of days before they reached the open plains and then the bluffs. He feared that food would be sparse once they left the woods. Katara quickly formed a clever idea of turning her undershirt into a pack. She found pine needles and long grass and created a needle with thread.

With a heavy sigh, she placed the shirt back into her lap. Her mind was filled with conflicting thoughts. She was mad that Zuko never told her that he was engaged to Mai. She was happy when he said that he did not love the gloomy girl. She was ashamed because she should be in love with Aang. The thought of being with Aang made her stomach churned. She began convincing herself that the banished prince did not love her.

_Why should he be with a peasant, like me, when there are beautiful women throwing themselves to him?_

Katara clutched her shirt and tried in vain to control the wave of sadness that was consuming her. She still could not explain when she fell in love with the firebender but she knew she loved him. Her heart and body reacted to him in a way she never knew existed. She never reacted this strongly towards Aang. She never experienced a multitude of emotions hitting at once. With Aang, she only had to deal with one emotion. Some days it was happiness, other days it was concern, and once in a while she dealt with worry. Zuko, on the other hand, was a huge range of emotions. She will go through several emotions at once before the strongest emotion takes over. That strong emotion was love.

The girl knew it was not love at first sight. She disliked him when he invaded her home. She found him annoying and irritating because he was always chasing her and her friends all over the world. She saw him as her equal during their fight at the North Pole. She saw him as a boy in Ba Sing Se and then a man when they were searching for her mother's killer. Somewhere during the crazy times of running into Zuko, Katara had fallen in love with him.

If she had to guess where the romantic feelings started, she would say Ba Sing Se in a heartbeat. Something happened in Ba Sing Se. It happened between her yelling at him and her offering to heal him. Zuko was hurt at the time. He was hurt and confused. It was his hurt that made him decide to go with Azula. It was the confusion that broke her heart. Katara blamed Zuko for breaking her heart. She did not blame him for Azula's attack. She saw the surprise on his face when Aang's body dropped to the ground.

Since Ba Sing Se, Katara was hurt. She made sure that her anger covered her hurt. She did not want anyone to know that the banished prince had a piece of her heart. She would find a private area so she can cry her eyes out. She did not want anyone to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. The pain fueled her desire to practice harder. She wanted to met up with Zuko again and show him how much he hurt her. She wanted him to feel what she feels. She had her chance when he showed up at the Western Air Temple begging to join but she could not do it. She knew if she hurt him, her heart would break more. So instead she made his life a living hell.

It was not in her nature to be that angry at someone for a long time but with Zuko she made sure that she stayed angry. Everyday she tried to find something that made her loathed him. Strangely, everything that she found sent a small tingle of excitement down her spine. She loathed his firebending but she could not take her eyes off of him when he trained Aang. She loathed his honor but she knew that he would be loyal to the end. She loathed his realism but she knew that just having hope was not enough to save the world. She even loathed the fact that he liked her hair down but she also loved the fact that he liked her hair down.

_Since when did everything about Zuko became so complicated?_

Then the dreams started. They were not explicit but they were very sensuous. Katara would wake up with a blush on her face and her body aching to be touched. She could remember each detail of her dreams. The smile that Zuko gave would be only meant for her. His touches would caress her skin. His kisses would take her breath away. Her dreams created a Zuko that was gentle, soft, and giving. The real Zuko was demanding, hard, and taking. Yet she wanted the real Zuko just as much as her dream Zuko. Those dreams made her loathed Zuko even more.

Katara could not help but think of the romantic side of her ordeal. A prince saved the damsel in distress. It was a silly thought but it was keeping Katara from going insane. She was glad that Zuko saved her from Ozai. He was the only one that would protect her. He would be the one that would hold her when the nightmares start. He knew how to comfort her without sending her into a panic. Even though his father brutalized her, Zuko was the one that made her stronger and helped her moved on. Katara knew if Sokka saved her, he would be watching her like a hawk and be distant at the same time. He would blame himself for putting her in that situation. Aang would not understand. He would try to put his arms around her or tell her to forget about it. He would make her feel uncomfortable and she would lose her mind.

Zuko truly saved her.

Zuko was _her_ prince.

"Katara."

The tone in Zuko's voice made Katara's blood go cold. It was demanding and icy. She raised her head up and saw Zuko still in his lotus position but his eyes were open. His good eye was narrowed and a tight frown was on his face. His hands were clenched into fists and she thought she saw smoke coming out of his nose. Her heart pounded in her ears.

"Run."

There was no need to ask why. She quickly went to her feet and ran away from Zuko. She refused to stop and look to see if Zuko was behind her. He told her to run and that meant to run as fast as she can without stopping.

Do not wait for him.

She ignored the branches hitting her bare arms as she ran through the forest. Her wrap was caught by the thorns and Katara quickly pulled the material out. Her lungs were about to burst but she kept on running. She was running so fast that she did not see the object appearing in front of her. Her body ran into the hard object and she bounced off. Her back hit the ground and a grunt escaped from her lips when her shoulder landed on a rock. Laughter filled her ears, it was a condescending laugh. Katara looked up to see who was laughing at her.

She wished she never looked up.

Standing over her was a large man. His shoulders were broad and had a barrel chest. His legs were short but very muscular. His black hair was long and greasy. His nose was big and it looked like it was broken a couple of times. His eyes were a dark yellow and they pierced into her. What scared Katara the most was the smile that the man gave. It was a very sinister smile.

It reminded her of Ozai.

"Do you know what happens to pretty little woodland nymphs that run in the forest alone?" the man snarled.

He grabbed a handful of Katara's hair and violently pulled her to her feet. She let out a shriek and tried to fight back but the man tightened his grip on her. He pulled her to his chest and Katara could smell the putrid stink of alcohol and body order. The smell made her gag. The man laughed at her discomfort.

"They get eaten," the man said darkly and pulled out a knife. The blade pressed against her throat.

Katara let out a scream.

****

During his meditation, Zuko heard a twig snapped. He kept his eyes closed and concentrated on the sound. He heard the ruffling and guessed that there are three people off to his left. He waited for a second to determine if they were friendly or hostile. When he heard the rushing, he knew they were hostile. He opened his eyes and told Katara to run.

He was glad that she did not ask why or fought with him. She quickly got to her feet and ran. He jumped to his feet and threw a fireball at the first person that came to the campsite. The intruder screamed in pain while the second one came charging at him. Zuko blocked the fist and jabbed his hand into the attacker's throat. The man gagged while Zuko side stepped away from him and swung his foot tripping the man. The attacker fell on his back with a thud. The third one came to his right and Zuko leaned back and watched the arm swung over his face. He took the arm and twisted it behind the man's back. He placed his foot on the attacker's back and pushed him towards his friends. The men collided with each other and Zuko waited for the next move. One man glared at him while he wiped the blood from his nose.

"Well shit boys," the man smirked to his friends. "It looks like we have a member of the famous Elite."

"Just leave," Zuko answered getting into a firebending stance. "I don't want to cause harm."

"You should have thought of that before you let the nymph run off," the second man snarled. His friends giggled like children.

"If you _fucking_ touch her," Zuko threaten and flames erupted from his hands. "I will kill you with my bare hands."

The bandits laughed at Zuko. They began circling him and their hands erupted in flames. It was three against one and Zuko liked the odds. He had been in worse situations than this. He took note of their weakness and prepared himself for their attack.

What he did not expect was a scream ripping through the air.

His body slacked for a second before going back into the stance. That brief pause was all the attackers need. They charged at Zuko with amazing speed. A fist connected to his jaw and then it was a series of fists pummeling him. He could not defend himself.

Zuko groan as he was kicked to the ground. He coughed up blood as he tried to get to his knees. Laughter was floating everywhere and out of no where a foot slammed down on his back. His face hit the ground and he heard a loud crack. He knew his nose was broken.

The broken nose was the least of his worries. During the beating, his scars had reopened and his lip was split. He had broken ribs and his hands had first degree burns. He tried to fight back but the attackers had the upper hand. Every time he tried to stand up, they kick him down. He needed to get out of here. He needed to find Katara.

He promised that he would protect her.

A hand grabbed the collar of his tunic and brought him to his knees. Two of the attackers grabbed each arm and twisted them so he would not move. Zuko knew that if he tried to get out of the hold, his arms would break. Hands pressed on his shoulders and he felt intense heat on them. It was a warning. They were telling him that if he moved, he will be burned to death. The third attacker picked up Zuko's dagger from the ground and inspected the weapon.

"Made in the Earth Kingdom," the man read out loud and laughed. He balanced the weapon on his finger. "Nice balance. This should replace my old one."

"That's nice," the man on Zuko's right said. "Any money?"

"Nope," the first man said. He kicked the swords. "The dual swords should be worth something." Zuko wished he never taken his weapons off to meditate.

The sound of twigs snapping and whimpering caught the attackers' attention. A large man walked into the clearing and gave the bandits a nod. He was giving a sinister smile and was dragging Katara by her hair. Zuko felt his heart dropped when he saw her struggling under the man's grasp.

"Look what I found," the large man said. He thrust Katara in front of him. "A woodland nymph!" The men laughed as if it was some joke. Katara's eyes went wide when she saw Zuko's condition.

"Leave her alone!" Zuko yelled.

"And let a beautiful nymph walk away from us?" the larger man said and pulled Katara close. Zuko let out a growl as he watched the larger man took a sniff of her hair. Katara's face paled and began to shake. "I don't know about you boys, but I haven't been with a woman in a long time."

"I swear on Agni's honor," Zuko snarled as he struggled under his attackers' grasp. "I _will_ kill you if you touched her!" He felt an elbow slamming in his back and then laughter.

"I have a great idea," the man with Zuko's dagger said. He walked towards Zuko with an evil grin plastered on his face. "Each one of us will have a round with the nymph." He walked around to Zuko's back. Zuko felt the man kneeled behind him and saw his dagger appeared in front of his face. "And Mr. Elite will watch," he snarled into Zuko's ear and placed the blade against his throat. Zuko flinched when the cold blade touched his skin. "Lie Ren, since you found her first. You should have the honor."

Zuko had no clue what Katara was thinking. Her blue eyes had a distant look and she stopped struggling. All Zuko could think about was how he failed her. Tears pricked his eyes as he was forced to watch Lie Ren throw Katara into a tree. His body shook as Lie Ren's hands roughly ran up Katara's legs. He tried to block out the jeers and laughter from the attackers. He knew once they were done with Katara, they were going to kill them.

He failed Katara. He failed protecting the woman he loved.

_Love_, it was the fourth time that the word appeared in his head. He was in love with her. He will always love her, even if she does not love him back.

Zuko was deep in his thoughts that he did not see Katara moved. He did not see her hands gripped into the bark of the tree. He did not see her eyes opened and the brilliant sapphire blue turned to the blackest black.

That was when hell broke loose.


	17. Chapter 17

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* * *

"_I don't think this is a good idea," Katara said with worry as she stood on the moon lit beach. She turned her head and her blue eyes stared at the black water._

"_I know you don't like it," Zuko said as he stood in front of her. His hands were resting gently on her shoulders. "I think you need to learn how to control it."_

_Katara turned her attention back to Zuko. Her blue eyes matched the color of the night. "It's wrong!" she yelled and removed his hands from her shoulders. "It's unholy!"_

"_I know," Zuko answered, his fingers reached out and gently touch her cheek. "It's more wrong if you don't control it. You can't let your anger control you."_

"_I just don't want to hurt you," Katara whispered and her hand touched his. _

_She knew that Zuko was right about controlling her bloodbending. It has been a month since they returned from their field trip and she is still haunted by her actions towards the captain of the Southern Raiders. He was an innocent and she almost killed him._

"_You won't hurt me," Zuko reassured._

_Katara gently removed Zuko's hand from her face and walked away from him. When she was a couple of feet away, she turned around and went into a waterbending position. Zuko quickly fell into a firebending stance. Katara closed her eyes and felt the power of the moon going through her. She concentrated on Zuko and she felt his blood pumping through his body. It was an unnerving feeling._

"_Attack when you are ready," Zuko said with confidence in his voice. Katara could not believe that he could be so calm right now. _

_Opening her eyes and not saying a word, Katara made her move. She kept her hands close to her body and stretched her fingers out. Zuko's body stiffened and began to twitch. She kept her concentration on Zuko as her fingers played with his blood. She brought him to his knees and Zuko started to force himself up. His muscles fought against her power._

"_Don't stop!" Zuko grunted through clenched teeth. He lost his balance and dropped to his knees. "Don't loosen up!"_

_Katara knew that arguing with him was going to be pointless so she continued on with her attack. Her fingers danced in the air like a puppetmaster as she watched Zuko moved either direction. For awhile, Katara was controlling Zuko's body until she noticed that he was fighting back. His blood pounded in her ears as she applied more pressure. He continued to fight until Katara managed to get Zuko into a bowing position in front of her. His head was touching the sand and she could see that he was panting hard. Tears stung her eyes as she watched Zuko fought her control. She wanted to stop._

"_Don't stop!" Zuko panted. It was amazing that he could read her mind._

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"_

_Katara relaxed her stance and Zuko instantly dropped to the ground. She spun around and saw Aang standing there with wide eyes. The look on his face was a mixture of shock and anger. The anger on his face made Katara upset. The young monk had no right to judge her._

"_We were sparring Aang," Katara said hotly._

"_No," Aang said with anger in his voice. "You were bloodbending."_

"_And what if I was?"_

"_It's wrong Katara!" Aang shouted. "And you know it!"_

"_I need to control it, Aang!" Katara shouted back. "Zuko offered to help me." She turned her back away from Aang and marched towards Zuko. The prince managed to get on his knees and was gasping for air._

"_No," Aang accused. "He made you do it!"_

_Something about that accusation snapped in Katara. She was furious that Aang would even suggest something like that. It sounded like she could not think for herself and she was letting Zuko put ideas in her head. She was appalled that Aang thought that way. She saw Zuko narrowed his eyes and was about to say something but she was too angry to let him speak._

"_How dare you to think like that!" Katara yelled as she brought Zuko to his feet. "I know that bloodbending is wrong but it's even more wrong if I don't control it! If I learn how to control it, maybe I can do something good with it!"_

"_Like what?" Aang snorted with disbelief._

"_Like maybe I can use it for healing purposes!" Katara sneered and shook her head. She let out a heavy sigh. "You don't understand."_

"_You're right, I don't understand," Aang said sounding sad. "You're not the same person."_

_Katara felt her shoulders slumped at that comment. Zuko wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. She missed the deadly look that Aang gave Zuko._

"_We're not the same people anymore," Katara said softly. "You've changed since Azula struck you. Zuko changed when he realized his mistake. I've changed when you almost died and Zuko betrayed me." She felt Zuko's grip went tighter. "Ba Sing Se changed us."_

"_I'm still the same," Aang defended._

"_No, no you're not," Katara answered sadly. She moved out of Zuko's grasp and took his hand. "Let's head back to the beach house, Zuko. I'm tired of practicing."_

"_Of course," Zuko replied and let Katara lead him away from Aang._

_As they walked back to the beach house, Katara adjusted her hand so her fingers interlaced with his. He returned the gesture by giving her a squeeze. She felt safe in his presence. _

_A feeling that she never had with Aang._

****

Katara's face slammed into the bark. She heard the laughter and jeers from the attackers as the large man began running his hands up her legs. She felt the bile rising in her throat as she tried to stop her body from shaking.

"Keep on watching, Mr. Elite!" one of the attackers taunted. "Or we slice your neck!" Laughter and jeers were immediately followed after the comment.

"This will be fun, nymph," the man named Lie Ren growled into Katara's ear. "I'll show you a good time."

It was not the words that made Katara think of Ozai but how it was said. She had a faint memory Ozai mocking her while he abused her. She could hear the bastard leaning into her ear whispering awful things to her. Her body started to shake violently as she felt Lie Ren reached around and fumbled with the knot that was holding her wrap together. She squeezed her eyes shut when the knot loosened and the wrap came undone. Her fingers gripped on the bark while Lie Ren's fingers pinched her flesh.

That was when she felt it.

It was similar to a pulse of a heartbeat but instead of blood, it was water that was flowing through the veins. A mere second went by until Katara realized that the water feeling pulse was coming from the tree. Her fingers could feel each tiny vein that ran through the bark.

_Can I control the water in the bark like the way I can control the blood in the body?_

The water in the bark began to pulse faster as if it was answering for her. Her fingers dug into the bark as she closed her eyes. She concentrated on the water that was swirling under her fingertips. Once she opened her eyes, Katara could only see red.

"Your pants are in the way," Lie Ren said hotly in her ear. His fat fingers hooked into her pants as he pressed himself into her.

"Get off!" Katara spat and moved her hands down. The splintering sound of bark ripping off from the tree caught Zuko's attention.

"Spirits!" Lie Ren yelled. Zuko could hear the panic that was growing in his voice. "She's really a woodland nymph!"

Zuko watched in fascination at the scene unfolding in front of him. Lie Ren removed his hands from Katara's body and was quickly moving away from her. Katara pushed herself off from the tree and turned around. A cold chill went through Zuko's body as he watched Katara slowly walked away from the tree. Her wrap was open, exposing her breast bindings. He could see the red welts on her stomach where Lie Ren pinched her. Her eyes were black and her hands were in a twisted gesture, similar to the time when she bloodbended the captain of the Southern Raiders. Instead of blood at her command, it was the tree bark hovering around her. Each sharp shard was pointed at him and the attackers, waiting to be thrown.

"You're fucked," Zuko said dryly, amazed that he could smirk. He could not help but wondered if he was going to share the same fate as the attackers.

Katara did not say anything but gave a deadly smile. She thrust her right hand forward and a chunk of the bark went towards Lie Ren. The large man did not even blink when the wooden projectile went into his heart. Katara thrust her hand again and the bark went even deeper. Blood spilled out of the chest and the man instantly dropped to the ground.

She swung her left arm in a wide arch and the bark flew in the air at an amazing speed. Zuko was able to get out of the attackers' grip and instantly reached for the dagger at his throat. A piece of the bark skimmed past his right ear and imbedded itself into the attacker's head. The man fell backwards and Zuko pulled the dagger out of the dead man's hand before it sliced his throat. The other two attackers drop to the ground making a dull thud. One had the bark imbedded in his chest while the other had it in his head.

Katara dropped her arms and the sky rained with tree bark. Her body began to shake and started to hyperventilate. She went to her knees and began hugging herself. She took deep gulping breaths as she blinked her eyes. The red haze was slowly disappearing and she was starting to see the world in front of her. She saw objects but it took her a while to recognize what they were. Cool hands wrapped around her and Katara fell into the familiar embrace. Lips pressed against her temple as she was slowly rocked.

"Are you alright?" Zuko asked in a nasally voice as he continued to rock her. Even though it was nasally, his voice had a hint of huskiness.

Katara lifted her head to see him. Her mouth opened when she saw the bloody mess of a thing that was speaking to her. His scar on his face was split open and so was his lip. His good eye was puffy and starting to swell up. Blood was coming out of his nose and the way it was angle, Katara knew it was broken. His breathing was shallow which gave Katara the impression that his ribs were broken.

"Did he hurt you?" Zuko asked as his hands tied the wrap closed. He ignored the pain from his red hands as they touched the rough cotton.

"I'm okay," Katara reassured with a shaky voice. Her hands clung onto the tunic that felt very wet. The metallic smell of blood burned her nose. She was getting tired of smelling it.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For failing you," Zuko said and wiped his nose. He flinched when his fingers brushed against the broken bone.

"You didn't fail me," Katara whispered. She reached out and gently brushed the blood under his nose with her thumb. "You never did." She wanted to kiss him but she forced herself not to. "Let me heal you."

"Not now," Zuko answered, his eyes burning into her. Katara could see the emotions passing through his eyes. "We have to get out of here." He slowly went to his feet and headed to the body of Lie Ren.

"You're bleeding Zuko!" Katara argued as she watched Zuko searched the body. "I need to heal you!" Zuko gave a grunt and pulled a pouch out of a pocket. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Finding something that might be useful," Zuko answered, not looking up. He opened the pouch and looked in. "There's some money in here. There's probably a village or a hamlet near by."

Katara turned her eyes away from Zuko and stared at the bodies on the ground. She could not believe that she actually controlled the water in the tree bark but the proof was there. Four bodies were on the ground and they either had a piece of the bark imbedded in their chests or impaled through their heads. The sight did not disgust her. It was her emotions that disgusted her.

Zuko saw the disgust on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I killed these men," Katara said, her voice sounding odd. She did not feel any remorse as she stared at the bodies, she felt relieved that she killed them.

"They deserved it," Zuko said as he shrugged. "They were going to hurt you." He paused for a second. "You have killed before?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"You know I have," Katara said with a huff. Her voice became very soft. "I'm looking at these bastards and I don't feel any remorse or shame. I'm actually glad that they are dead!" Her eyes began to water. "Am I becoming a monster?"

"No," Zuko reassured. "You're not a monster. You did what was right."

"Do you feel like that?" Katara instantly regretted her question. Zuko looked down when he answered her.

"Sometimes," Zuko replied quietly. "But, I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster," Katara whispered.

"It's still early," Zuko said quickly as he looked at the position of the sun. Katara did not know if he was talking about the time or himself. "I want to put enough distance between us and these bodies." He headed to the next body and began searching it. "Hopefully we're lucky enough to find civilization."

Katara only gave a nod and slowly went to her feet. She began collecting the weapons and the makeshift pack. Her head was throbbing and she began to sway. Zuko was quickly behind her holding her up. She cursed herself for using all her strength to attack those men. Zuko's red hands gently lay on her stomach. Katara placed her hands on top of his.

"I'm healing you once we stopped," Katara threatened and gave his hands a gentle pat. "I'll tie you to a tree if I have too."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Zuko whispered into her ear.

****

The giant beast landed gracefully on the balcony of the Eastern Air Temple only making a loud grunt. Aang bounded off of Appa's head and began walking towards the entrance. His mind was still focused on Sokka's reaction. The warrior had the nerve to accuse him of betraying the world because he loved Katara. He also had a feeling that Sokka was going to suggest that Katara might be in love with Zuko.

_Yeah right_, Aang thought bitterly. _Katara in love with Zuko? She wouldn't do that to me._

Aang continued to walk down the hallway of the empty temple looking for the guru that would help him. He should try to apologize for leaving hastily the last time. He imagined the guru understanding that his friends were in trouble; especially Katara. He also imagined that the guru would tell him that it was okay and there is another way to go into the Avatar State without giving up the woman he loves.

"Aang?" a wheezed voice called out. "Is that really you?"

"Guru Pathik!" Aang shouted back. A huge smile was on his face as he saw the old mentor hobbling towards him. The smile fell when he saw the disappointed look on the guru's face.

"What are you doing here?" Pathik said sounding cross. "You should be fighting the Fire Lord."

"We lost," Aang said and looked to the ground. "Ozai won the battle."

"You still haven't mastered the Avatar State," Pathik accused. "You still haven't learned to let go."

"That's where you're wrong," Aang challenged. "Everyone told me that I have to kill Ozai but I found a way to stop him without killing him. If I can do that, then I can go into the Avatar State without letting go."

"You spoken to the lion-turtle," Pathik said with awe. "The powers that he taught you are very valuable but you still need to kill the Fire Lord."

"Why?" Aang shouted. He ran his hand over his head. "Why should I kill him? It's wrong!" Pathik let out a loud sigh.

"If the Fire Lord lives," Pathik solemnly said. "The world would cease to exist." Aang stared at him blankly as the guru continued on. "Everyone you love will suffer. Imagine the worse torture or death and multiply it by ten. I've been hearing that someone is already suffering." He gave a shrug and walked away. "Come, we have a lot of work to do."

"Who are you talking about?" Aang shouted as he chased after Pathik.

"Don't worry yourself with tiny details," Pathik said as he waved his hand. "We must get you into the Avatar State." He sat on the ground and folded his legs into a lotus position. "We must meditate." He closed his eyes and began to hum.

Aang rolled his eyes at the guru and went to the ground. He pulled his legs into the lotus position and placed his hands on his knees. He closed his eyes and took deep calming breaths. It took him awhile to get into a calm state of mind because of his rushing thoughts. Only one question bounced around in his head while he meditated.

_Who was Pathik talking about?_


	18. Chapter 18

**Wow! Just over 170 reviews! Yeah! Thanks for the great reviews and enjoying this story! A big thanks to Toph13139 for helping me decide on a scene in this chapter!**

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Waves crashed against the hull of the metal ship as it bobbed at the dock. Tan skinned men wearing traditional Fire Nation clothes paced on the deck. Every few minutes, the men will stop in their tracks and face the port town. Multiple of cobalt blue eyes were searching for something or someone. All they could see were soldiers from the Fire Nation Army. They do not see the blue eyed girl with curly brown hair or the amber eyed boy with the haunting scar. The captain let out a huge sigh as he turned towards his leader.

"We can't stay here anymore, Master Jeong Jeong," the captain said in a low voice.

"I know," Jeong Jeong answered as his gaze focused on the soldiers. He used to be one of them; young and stupid.

"Do you think they're alive?"

"I don't know," Jeong Jeong said honestly. He looked at the tired captain. "There's no word on them being dead."

"I could try convincing the dock manager for letting us stay an extra week," the captain offered.

"No," Jeong Jeong replied. "We have over stayed our welcome."

"Then I'll tell the crew to prepare for departure."

Jeong Jeong only nodded and turned his gaze back to the port. Old military instinct was kicking in and the Deserter knew that something happened to the young heroes. His gut was telling him that they are not heading north anymore. He shook his head and walked off the deck.

_Let the spirits watch over you, Master Katara and Prince Zuko._

****

Zuko pushed himself after the attack. If he had his way, they would never stop walking. They only paused to rest or eat some berries that grew nearby. As the day went by, the landscape around them changed from a wooded area to a sparse plain. The stream that they have been following became a tiny creek. Zuko began slowing down and every time Katara mentioned that she should heal him, he would growl at her and pushed himself harder. The sun was setting when they came to a tiny patch of trees surrounding the creek.

Katara had enough of dealing with the angry firebender.

"Zuko," Katara reasoned and grabbed his arm. "You're hurt."

"_I'm fine,_" Zuko snarled and covered his mouth when he started to cough. Katara saw blood on his hand after his coughing fit.

"Like hell you are!" Katara snapped; her sparkling blue eyes went dark. She dragged Zuko towards a rock. "Sit," she ordered. He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. "Sit _down_," she ordered again and this time her voice was threatening.

Zuko clamped his mouth shut and sat down in the most ungraceful way. She narrowed her eyes at him and he held back the smirk that was forming on his face. The look on her face reminded him of the fight they had back in the North Pole. That was the first time he noticed her; not as the Avatar's companion but a master waterbender.

Katara went to the creek and wiggled her fingers over the water. A thin clear column began to form and it slowly went up to her hand. She swayed a little and the water dropped back into the creek. Squaring up her shoulders and taking a deep breath, Katara attempted again. The water moved out of the creek and swirled around her hand. She turned around and gave a triumphant smile. Zuko could see the fatigue on her face.

"You don't have to do this," Zuko said sounding concern. "I'm fine, really." He wiped the dried blood under his nose and flinched when his fingers touched the broken bone.

"Right," Katara scoffed and dropped to her knees. Zuko saw the determination replacing the fatigue on her face. "Take off your tunic." A smile formed on her face. "_Please_." Her voice was polite but there was a hint of sultriness in it.

Zuko knew his face went red as he fumbled with his tunic. He cringed when the clothing ripped some of the scab off. He had an insane urged to cover himself when he saw the appalled look on Katara's face.

"Who healed you?" Katara shouted and pointed at his chest. She scolded herself for not noticing the sad state of the scar when she saw it at Madame Vianne's Manor. There was no new skin and an infection was appearing in some areas. It looked completely uncomfortable. "It looked like Master Pakku healed you!"

"Master Pakku did heal it," Zuko said as he stared at the tree behind her instead of the penetrating gaze.

"Where were the other healers?" Katara asked with a small smile. The image of Pakku healing somebody was hilarious.

"They were healing Sokka," Zuko smirked, this time he looked at Katara. "Somehow he blew out his knee on an airship."

"How do you blow out a knee on an airship?" Katara asked sounding bewildered.

"I don't know," Zuko snorted and shrugged. "Then again, it's Sokka."

Katara debated were to start. His good eye was still swelling and she knew the pressure was bothering him. Her water gloved hand began to glow and she rested it on the eye. Zuko felt the familiar cool sensation of the water healing. Subconsciously he leaned into the touch.

Once the good eye was healed, Katara moved on to the next injury. Zuko could feel his eye scar mending under her hand, his nose sliding back into place, the swelling reducing on his lip, and his hands returning to normal. Katara paused for a minute to catch her breath and to decide on what needed to be healed next. Her struggles with the water became more evident but Zuko knew it was best not to argue. She placed the water gloved hand on his ribcage and he was able to breathe easily.

The final injury was the scar on the chest. An unsettled feeling formed in Zuko's stomach, he had a feeling that he was not going to enjoy this. He held back the gasp when Katara placed her cold wet hand on his chest. This touch was different from the other touches. It was an intimate touch. He pushed back the thoughts that were racing through his mind.

_Just because I love her doesn't mean she loves me._

He saw Katara started to shake as she concentrated. Gently, Zuko placed his hand over hers. Instantly her body stopped shaking. She gave a small smile of thanks and continued on with the healing.

Katara glanced at their hands covering his scar. His hand was bigger than hers. It was rough and calloused from all the fighting he had done. Yet he held her hand like a lover; gentle and protective. A sad smile appeared when Katara thought about that.

_We're not lovers. Never will be._

"Finished," Katara said as she pulled her hand and sad thoughts away.

"Amazing," Zuko said in awe as he inspected his scar. It was pink from the new skin and the scab was gone. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Katara answered and wiped her brow. She turned and stood up quickly but she lost her balance. Zuko reached out and caught her. Her back pressed up against his chest.

"You pushed yourself past your limit today," Zuko whispered in her ear. His warm breath tickled her neck which made her shiver. "You shouldn't have healed me."

"_I'm fine_," Katara snapped as she pulled herself away from him. She spun around and placed her hands on her hips. "So stop acting like a spoiled prince!" She saw the brief hint of hurt in the amber eyes and immediately felt guilty. "Maybe you're right," she backpedalled. "I do need to rest."

Zuko reached out and pulled her into his arms. His left arm wrapped around her waist and his right hand brought up her chin. He leaned closer to her face and for a heart stopping moment, Katara thought he was going to kiss her. She _prayed_ to the spirits for him to kiss her.

"We might as well rest. It will be too dangerous to walk through the night," Zuko said as he stared deep into her blue eyes. He broke the gaze and scanned the surroundings. "The trees will provide us with protection."

Trying to hide the blush that was forming, Katara buried her head into Zuko's chest. The intoxicating smell of the woods was mixed in his skin and Katara tried her best in not being obvious when she inhaled the scent. It was comforting and it was making her sleepy. He smelled better than the woods.

"Do you always think like a military man?" Katara asked absentmindedly as she nuzzled her face into his freshly healed scar.

"That's who I am," Zuko chuckled, not aware of Katara's action. His hand played with her hair and he could smell the delicate scent of roses. "You can take the man out of the military but you never take the military out of the man."

"You sound like Sokka." Katara said sleepily.

"I'll take that as an insult." Zuko whispered as he took a deep breath of her scent.

The heavy breathing signaled to Zuko that Katara fell asleep. He gently lowered her to the ground. Katara let out a whimper when Zuko removed his arms from her body. He took the empty makeshift pack and balled it up. He gently lifted her head and placed the material under it. His lips pressed against her temple when her head nestled into the material.

Grabbing his swords, Zuko hacked away some of the branches so he could make a fire. He created a small firepit and lit the branches. He washed his bloody tunic in the creek and hung it near the fire so it can dry. Zuko sat on the rock and watched Katara sleep. A man would be lucky to earn her love.

He prayed to the spirits that he could be that man.

****

Cree sat back and stared at the map. Pawns moved in a different direction every time a soldier came in with a new message. The Earth Kingdom Army has captured four ports now. The ports have been surrendering early, so the lost of life had been minimal. It boosts the confidence in the men but Cree knew that the hardest battles would be the inland villages and then the Capitol. The newest arrangement of pawns would give the Earth Kingdom Army the upper hand.

"That's a pretty good offense," Sokka said as he looked over Cree's shoulder. "Aren't you worried about the left flank?" He pointed to a group of pawns.

"I am," Cree answered as he sat up. "Hopefully the mountains provide a natural protection. It will change again once I get another message." Green eyes stared at the warrior. "You seem calmer now."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Sokka said as he sat down. "I'm still angry at him. He let my sister suffer."

"You can't blame him entirely," Cree said. "Your sister made a decision also. We don't know what happened at the Palace and probably never will."

"So I should blame Katara," Sokka growled. His hands gripped the armrests.

"Didn't say that," Cree said with a frown. "I'm not in the mood to fight, General. Is there something you wanted?"

"Sorry," Sokka said sincerely. Cree gave him a nod and returned to the map. "What can you tell me about this Admiral Turin?"

"He's ruthless," Cree answered even though his eyes never left the map. "He's known as _The Butcher of Norse_."

"Norse?"

"Norse was a small farming community in the southern region of the Earth Kingdom," Cree said sadly. "Norse had no military protection. Turin led the attack. Men were set on fire, women were raped, and the town was completely razed," he let out a loud sigh. "There were no survivors. To this day, we don't know what happened to the children."

"Shit," Sokka whispered and saw the young captain grip a pawn tightly. Cree's reaction reminded Sokka how he felt when he lost Yue. "You lost someone at Norse."

"My fiancée," Cree answered. There was a hint of sadness in his voice. "I was sixteen at the time and just joined King Bumi's guards. The soldiers handed me the engagement bracelet that I gave her." He pulled out a gold woven bracelet from his pocket. "They told me that they had to peel it off from her body."

"I know how you feel," Sokka said and glanced at the map. "I've lost someone to Admiral Zhao but I've learned to move on. It still hurts but I love Suki more than the pain."

"Unlike you," Cree said as he pocketed the bracelet. "I'm not planning to fall in love again." He stood up and adjusted his uniform. "My chance for happiness died at Norse."

Cree gave a salute and left the room. Sokka let out a sigh and stared at the door. The upper corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk as a low chuckle escape from his lips.

"Famous last words buddy," Sokka chuckled. "Famous last words."

****

"Someone is watching us," Zuko whispered as he slipped his dry tunic on. His eyes adjusted to the light of the rising sun as he scanned the trees.

"I don't hear anything," Katara replied as she perked her ears. She could hear the morning song from the birds but nothing else. She eyed the creek near them and flexed her fingers. The water moved to the flexing. It was an empowering feeling to bend again, even though it was still weak. It felt like she was getting her life back.

"Stay here," Zuko ordered and grabbed his swords.

"Where are you going?" Katara hissed as she tried to stand up.

"I'm gong to check it out," Zuko answered and tossed her the dagger. The weapon landed just before her feet.

"I'm coming with you," Katara fought as she grabbed the pearl handle of the dagger.

"No," Zuko growled as he strapped his swords on his back. He pointed his finger to the ground. "You're staying here."

"I'm not helpless!" Katara practically shrieked. "Don't treat me like I'm weak!"

"Katara," Zuko warned. He could see the anger burning in her blue eyes. Everyday he was seeing the old Katara, just for a moment. "I said you were my priority. You come first." He saw the uneasiness on her face and let out a defeated sigh. "I'll call for you if I need help."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Zuko said quietly and kissed her forehead. Katara blushed and instantly looked to the ground. He smiled at the gesture. He loved the fact that he can make her blush.

_She loves Aang, _Zuko reminded himself. _Aang has her love._ He gave her a nod and disappeared through the trees.

****

_Zuko rushed into his room and slammed the door. He slid down to the floor as he took deep breaths. A head instantly appeared from the other side of the bed and Zuko let out a yell. The boy pushed back his hair and gave him an impish grin. Zuko glared back at the shirtless boy._

"_Hey Zuko!" the boy said as his finger traced a pattern on the coverlet. "How was the meeting?"_

"_Mim, I'm in trouble," Zuko said as he scooted away from the door. _

_Mim held his finger up and his head disappeared behind the bed. Zuko could hear whisperings and young maid appeared. She quickly bowed to Zuko and left the room. A shirt was thrown on the bed and Mim stood up adjusting his pants. _

"_I have nothing against you fucking the servants," Zuko growled as he pointed his finger at Mim. "Can you least try not to do it in my room? You're going to get caught!"_

"_That's whole point!" Mim smiled as he slipped his shirt on. "Unlike you, I'm trying to end an engagement!"_

"_It's not my problem that you are betrothed to Azula!" Zuko spat as he watched his friend gather his hair into a topknot. "Just don't do it in my room! People would think I'm having sex!"_

"_Let them," Mim scoffed as he checked his topknot. "Spirits knows that you need it. I've never met anybody so uptight."_

_Zuko bit his lower lip as he continued to watch his friend finished dressing himself. He was not in the mood to remind Mim that he did not want a list of sexual conquests. He definitely did not want to tell his friend that he already lost his virginity to Mai. Mim rolled his eyes when he saw the frown on his friend's face._

"_Come on, Zuko!" Mim said while he rolled his eyes. "Don't lecture me about how your honor and your military career are more important than being between a woman's legs." He saw Zuko's shoulders slump and quickly became concerned. His friend looked defeated. "What's wrong? Did something happen in the meeting?"_

"_I did something bad," Zuko whispered and looked down. "I was challenged into an Agni Kai."_

"_You what?" Mim shouted. "How? Why? Who?"_

"_Some crazy old general," Zuko snorted and lowered his head. "I spoke during his campaign plans."_

"_Why in the hell would you do that?" Mim yelled and smacked his hand against his head. "That's disrespecting the general! You know better than that! You've been in dozens of meetings!"_

"_Yeah, I know," Zuko snorted. "I had to speak out. That crazy fool was suggesting in sending new recruits right into the firing line."_

"_My Lord approved of that?" Mim asked sounding shock. "That's murder!"_

"_Exactly," Zuko defended. He picked a piece of lint off of his clothes and flicked it. "Since I was out of line, I was challenged to an Agni Kai."_

"_Fuck," Mim replied and sat down on the floor next to Zuko. "I don't understand. The generals always respected your ideas. What's the sudden change?"_

"_Probably since it was announced that I was going to be Admiral on my fourteenth birthday," Zuko sighed. "Father is disappointed in me."_

"_I'm not," Mim said with pride. "You acted like how a leader should be; preserving the lives of your men."_

"_Thanks."_

"_Do you need a second for the Agni Kai?"_

"_No," Zuko answered and looked at his friend. "I don't need one. The old man would be easy to beat. I would like for you to come."_

"_Are you asking me as a friend?" Mim asked raising an eyebrow. "Or are you ordering me because I'm your second in command?"_

"_A friend."_

"_Then I wouldn't miss it for the world," Mim smiled. He went to his feet and extended his hand. Zuko took the offer and was pulled to his feet. "You're tense; the maid has a friend that would be happy to help you relax."_

"_I'll pass," Zuko said with a smile. "I need to prepare myself."_

"_Alright," Mim said with a shrug. "More for me then." He headed to the door. "Maybe I'll get caught."_

"_I'll see you tomorrow morning, Mim," Zuko answered. "Just don't let Azula catch you."_

"_I'm trying to get caught," Mim replied with a laugh. "Not wanting to die." He gave a wave and left the room._

_Zuko let out a loud sigh and undid the topknot. He headed to his bed and fell on the plush mattress. He tried in vain to push today's events out of his mind. He screwed up and he was going to get punish for it. He stared at the decorative tiles on the ceiling until his eyes crossed. He ignored the knocking on the door and his uncle requesting to come in. He wanted to be alone._

_Closing his eyes, Zuko began to plan out how he would carry out the Agni Kai. He would treat it like his campaigns, always have two options. The first option was to make the old general surrender. The second option was to kill if necessary. Zuko hoped that he did not go to that option. He was confident that he can win this duel but he could not shake the black cloud that was forming in him._

_He had a bad feeling about tomorrow._

****

Moving soundlessly through the small grove of trees, Zuko crept up to the stranger's back. The stranger was standing behind a bush with his hands at his sides and a clear view of the campsite. There were no weapons visible and the stranger's fingers were not twitching, a trait in firebenders that are preparing for a fight. Zuko noticed that the stance was familiar.

Like someone from his past.

_What is he doing? _Zuko thought as he unsheathed his swords. It was time to get some answers.

Zuko rushed towards the stranger. His feet moved soundlessly as he edged closer. The stranger somehow heard him and moved to his left. Zuko spun to his right and brought the swords around. He twisted his body and had the intruder's back in front of him. His swords crossed and they rested on the stranger's neck.

"Give me one damn good reason why I should spare you," Zuko growled into the man's ear.

"_Zuko?" _


	19. Chapter 19

**Finally! This chapter had an adventure! Rewrites, computer problems, and technical difficulties. A big thanks to my beta, klacy7544!**

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"_Mim?"_

Zuko let his swords drop to the ground as he took a step back. The man in question turned around and stared back with wide canary yellow eyes. Zuko could feel his jaw hanging open as he returned the stare.

_No way, _Zuko thought as his mind race. _No fucking way!_

"Zuko?" the stranger smiled. "Fuck! I thought you were banished!" He tilted his head as he continued to stare. "What are you doing here?"

The stranger was the about same age as Zuko. He was a few inches taller and more muscular than the banished prince. His black hair was long and pulled back into a low ponytail. His pale skin had a hint of color, suggesting that he must have been working in the sun. Zuko hardly recognized the teenager if it was not for that trademark smirk. He has not seen this person since his Agni Kai.

His former second in command was standing right in front of him.

His best childhood friend was right here. _Could it be?_

"Long story Mim," Zuko stumbled over the name. It sounded completely foreign to him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm exiled," Mim said with a laugh. The chuckle held a dark undertone.

There are two ways to punish a traitor in the Fire Nation; getting banished or force to go into exile. An exiled person cannot return to their home. An exiled person cannot own land. The only place an exiled person was welcomed were the desolate lands of the western region.

"Zuko?" Katara called out. There was a hint of panic in her voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Zuko yelled back, never taking his eyes off of Mim. "Can I trust you?" He pointed at his former friend.

"My loyalties have never changed," Mim answered in a challenging voice as if hurt by the question.

Zuko narrowed his eyes and the two friends stood in silence as they stared each other down. There was nothing for Mim to gain if he were to capture or kill the banished prince. Zuko let out a sigh and motioned Mim to follow him. The teenager quickly fell into step next to him.

"She's cute," Mim said trying to break the tension between the two. "How long have you two been together?"

"We're not together," Zuko growled with frustration that Mim did not miss.

"Right," Mim drawled out and rolled his eyes.

"It's complicated," Zuko sighed. "Also I don't want you flirting with her."

"Wasn't even considering it," Mim answered with a laugh. Zuko raised an eyebrow. "I'm married," he explained.

Zuko almost choked on his spit. Never in his life would he think that Mim would settle down with one woman. His friend's sexual conquests tallied more than a room full of generals.

"_Married?"_ Zuko said with disbelief. "As in devoted for life with one woman?"

"Yes," Mim snorted and laughed. "This will make your head spin, I also have a daughter." There was a hint of anguish in his voice.

"You have a _what?_" Zuko practically shouted.

Katara heard Zuko's shout and began running towards the sound. Her hands moved quickly and a tiny ribbon of water followed her. She burst through the bushes and pushed her hands forward. The ribbon of water flew by her and thrust Mim into the tree. The water froze when she clenched her hands, leaving Mim shackled to the trunk. Her hand went to the pearl handle dagger.

Mim was shocked to see the girl moved so fast with the water. Even more shocked when he realized that his bonds were very weak. He could melt the ice away with a simple firebending move but he decided against it. The look on her beautiful tanned face was disturbing. It was a mixture of fear, panic, and hatred. This waterbending girl scared the shit out of him.

_Zuko knows how to pick them._

"Who are you? Why are you following us?" Katara asked in a cold voice. The way she was reacting, Mim wondered if the waterbender was hurt recently.

"Katara!" Zuko yelled out, stepping between the waterbender and the bounded firebender.

"I mean no harm!" Mim cried out. He inwardly cursed on how pathetic he sounded. "I'm a friend!"

"It's true," Zuko answered as he stepped closer to Katara. He noticed that her icy blue eyes were still focused on Mim, waiting for him to attack. He gently touched her cheek. "He's my friend."

"You had friends?" Katara asked sounding shock. She tore her eyes away from Mim and stared at Zuko. Mim burst out laughing. Zuko let out a loud groan.

"I like her!" Mim chuckled at his friend's discomfort

"Mim," Zuko said evenly. Mim knew that tone; it meant that at this moment you do not want to cross the prince. "We can leave you frozen to the tree."

"You can't!" Mim yelled out in panic. Katara could hear the fear in his voice. "I have to return home!"

The panic and the sincerity of the firebender's voice broke Katara's heart. Someone was hurt and he was looking for help. She watched him struggle under her weak bonds, knowing that he could have broken those minutes ago. She figured the reason why he did not escape because he wanted their trust. Taking a deep breath, Katara released her control on the bonds and the teenager fell to his knees. She hoped that this stranger was still friends with Zuko.

"Thank you," Mim stammered and bowed low to Katara. Zuko was surprised to see the humility in his friend's gesture. He glanced at Katara and noticed that she was surprised also. "Thank you so much."

"What's your name?" Katara asked softly as she approached Mim. She kneeled in front of him and stared into his canary eyes.

Mim stared into Katara's eyes. He was amazed on how blue they were. Anyone could get lost in them. "My name is Mim," he said. "Former Commander of the Fire Nation Army, former confidant of Prince Zuko, and former honored son of the House of Tam."

"You're disowned?" Zuko asked sounding even more surprised. He never heard of a family disowning an exile. Families mourned for the lost of an exile as if they died, but never disowned them.

"A lot of things happened since your banishment," Mim replied darkly. He slowly went to his knees. "On the bright side, my engagement ended." He glanced at Katara and gave a wicked smile. "May I ask who this lovely maiden is?" Katara blushed at the comment and turned her head away slightly embarrassed.

"Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," Zuko snarled when he saw Katara blush at his friend's comment.

Mim smiled at his friend's anger. He had seen Zuko get angry over things that he was passionate about. After witnessing the tender moment between the two before Zuko snuck up on him, he was certain that his friend was in love with the waterbender.

_He's head over heels in love with her,_ Mim thought as a smile spread across his face.

"Zuko," Katara warned as she glared at him. "Stop acting like an angry jerk!"

"_Angry jerk?"_ Mim asked raising an eyebrow.

"Don't start," Zuko warned.

"Name fits," Mim crossed his arms.

"_Boys_," Katara growled and both them shut their mouths. She looked at Mim again and returned to the reason why she released him from his bonds. "Who's hurt?"

"My daughter's very ill and needs medicine," Mim said sadly and looked down. "Basil root grows in this area where you're camping." He did not look at Zuko when the banished prince flinched at the name of the plant.

"You know it won't work on children," Zuko said sadly. Mim raised his head and Zuko saw the desperation in his friend's eyes. His friend has changed during the three years. The old Mim would have accepted it and moved on.

"I know that!" Mim shouted. His shoulders slumped as he let out a defeated sigh. "Zuko, I'm desperate! My daughter is dying and I'm willing to sell my soul to Agni just to ease her pain!"

"I'm a healer," Katara offered. She could not stand seeing the pain on Mim's face. "I can help."

"Katara," Zuko said in a low voice that was laced with guilt. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"She's a little girl," Katara shot back. "I'm not letting a child die if there is something I might be able to do about it." She turned to Mim and gave him a reassuring smile. "Let's collect our things and then we'll follow you back to your home." Katara turned and walked back to the camp. She looked back and saw the boys have not moved. "Hurry up!" she yelled as she placed her hands on her hips. Mim flinched while Zuko just smiled at her. "We don't have all day!"

Mim glanced at Zuko and gave a crooked smile. "Damn she's a handful!"

"You have no idea," Zuko answered pinching the bridge of his nose.

"But she's worth it," Mim continued to smile. "Isn't she?"

"Absolutely."

****

Katara held her breath when she entered the room. The pungent smell of incense burned her eyes. She blinked the tears away so she could focus on the shapes coming into view on the bed.

The smaller shape that was lying on the bed was a three week old baby. Her breathing was shallow and wheezy. She wiggled in discomfort and her face scrunched up in pain. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Just looking at the baby, Katara knew there was little hope, this child was dying. It was just mattered of when.

The larger shape was the mother. She sat on the edge of the bed rubbing the baby's chest helping her to breath. Her head hung low, her black hair covering her face. Katara could hear the soft song that the mother was humming. Mim cleared his throat and the mother looked up. She gasped in surprise by the crowd that suddenly appeared in her room. Katara saw the helplessness, exhaustion, and most of all fear in the mother's saffron yellow eyes. Mim quickly went to the young mother's side and whispered something in her ear. She clutched his shirt while tears poured down her eyes as she continued to listen to Mim.

"Ling," Mim whispered as he pulled the mother to her feet. "Remember me telling you about my friend Zuko?" Ling nodded her head. "Well this is him." Zuko gave a small nod. "And this is Master Katara." He pointed at Katara.

"I'm a healer," Katara said and walked towards the couple. She offered her hand and Ling took the offer. "Your husband told me about your daughter's illness."

"You're a healer?" Ling asked in a wavering voice as she squeezed Katara's hand. "You can heal my baby?"

"I promise that I will try with every skill I have," Katara smiled gently. She noticed that Ling's raven black hair had highlights of dark brown. The young woman was beautiful.

"What do you need?" Mim asked as he clenched his jaw. The action reminded Katara of Zuko. She guessed it was how the boys were raised. She figured it was considered dishonorable for Fire Nation males to show any emotion in front of loved ones.

"Water," Katara answered as she let go of Ling's hand. "I need a bowl of clean water. I also need an empty bowl."

"You'll have it," Mim said and began leading Ling out of the bedroom. "Why don't you sit down, darling? Master Katara doesn't need us hovering around."

Once the couple left the room, Zuko let out a low curse and stared at the child. He had a distant look on his face. Katara approached him and touched his cheek. Zuko blinked his eyes when he felt her warm fingers gently caressing him. She could feel him trembling underneath the touch.

"You know what it is?" Katara expressed as more of a statement than a question.

"Dragon's breath," Zuko said in a quiet voice as he broke the eye contact. "It's an infection in the lungs. It's common in adults but deadly in children." His voice was barely a whisper. "It's very rare for a child to survive this."

"Did Mim have it?" Katara probed as she walked towards the bed. She gently sat on the edge of the bed and began rubbing the baby's chest. She shivered when she felt how cold the child was. The baby opened her mouth again and this time a tiny squeak was heard.

"I had it," Zuko corrected and leaned against the wall. "Or so have I been told." His head dropped to his chest. "From what Uncle told me, it was bad. The Palace was on death watch for a week."

"How did you survive?"

"No one knows," Zuko lifted his head. "One day, I was starting to feel better. My mother lit a candle for Agni every day since then."

"How old were you?"

"Her age," Zuko pointed at the baby. "Ozai always said that I was lucky to be born."

"What's the basil root used for?" Katara asked quickly changing the subject. She could not stand hearing that evil bastard's name. She could not decide who suffered more in Ozai's control; her or Zuko.

"You boil it," Zuko answered. "Then you inhale the fumes."

The conversation ended when Mim entered the room holding two bowls. Zuko snapped out of his reverie and quickly took the bowls out of his friend's trembling hands. He placed the bowl full of water on the bed and the empty bowl on the dresser.

"You'll take good care of her," Mim said pleadingly as he looked at Zuko. "She's my blood."

"We will." Zuko said with confidence.

"Spirits," Mim muttered as he ran his hand through his hair. "Ling will just die if she doesn't make it." His canary eyes started to water. "I don't know what I will do if I lose her and Ling. They're all I have, they're my life!"

"Mim," Zuko said as he clutched his friend's shoulders. "Everything will be fine. Go to your wife. She needs your strength." Mim nodded and started to head to the door. Zuko stopped him. "What's your daughter's name?"

"Zora," Mim answered with a small smile. "Her name is Zora."

"You have issues," Zuko smirked. "You know that?"

"You shouldn't have asked," Mim smiled and left the room.

"What was that all about?" Katara asked as her hand floated over the bowl full of water.

"Zora was the chosen name if I was born as a girl," Zuko explained not looking at Katara. "My cousin, Lu Ten, thought it would be funny to call me that when Mim and I joined the military."

"I wonder what kind of stories Mim would have about you," Katara joked as she watched the water swirl around her hand. "Are you really the spoiled prince that everyone believes you to be?"

"Just as soon I ask Sokka if you really are a selfish peasant," Zuko retorted as he watched the water turn a bright blue.

Katara stuck out her tongue at him before turning her attention to Zora. She placed her hand on the baby's chest and felt for the infection. She could feel the weak heart and the wheezing of the lungs. Katara knitted her brows until she felt a solid object in the lungs.

"Zuko," Katara said as her hand moved up and down on the chest. "I need you to turn her head. I'm going to break up the infection and pull it up through her mouth. I need you to clear the passageway and put the remains in the empty bowl."

Zuko moved quickly and gently sat on the bed near Zora's head. He turned the baby's head to the right. The baby tried to squirm under the touch but she was too weak. He nodded to her that he was ready. Katara gently press her hand on Zora's chest. She concentrated on the hard object in the baby's lungs and slowly it began breaking apart. Katara slowly moved her hand up towards Zora's throat.

Zuko tried not to gag when he saw the black mucus pouring out of the baby's mouth. He scooped the mucus out of the mouth and put in the bowl. The smell of it was horrible. Katara repeated the process until the mucus became clear and Zora let out a loud wail. She scooped up the baby and began to rock her. Ling quickly rushed into the room and Katara was happy to give the crying child to the mother.

"Thank you!" Ling cried as she clutched Zora. Her voice was barely heard over the crying child. "Oh thank you!"

"It was nothing," Katara smiled. "I'm glad that I was able to help." She stood up and quickly became dizzy. Zuko moved quickly to catch her.

"You overexerted yourself," Zuko whispered and scooped her into his arms.

"Just exhausted," Katara mumbled as she clutched on to Zuko's shirt. "I didn't sleep well last night."

"Zuko," Mim said as he walked into the room. "Take Master Katara to the spare room."

The tone in Mim's voice made Zuko hold back his protest. He knew that Mim wanted to talk. They have a lot of things to talk about. Zuko gave a bow and then carried Katara to the spare room. She gave a content sigh as her head landed on the pillow. She patted her hand on the bed and Zuko took the invite that she wanted him to sit down.

"How long has it been since I slept in a bed?" Katara said in a tired voice.

"Weeks," Zuko answered as he pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "You did a great job."

"I couldn't let her die," Katara muttered as she snuggled in the bed.

"I know."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"Everything," Zuko replied as he looked at the door. "Katara, I don't know how he will react. Mim and I were ruthless."

"He's not ruthless," Katara argued in a sleepy voice. "Because you're not ruthless, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise."

"That's a big assumption."

"I know," Katara smiled and closed her eyes. "But I have my proof."

"Which is?" Zuko asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Ruthless men don't change."

Zuko was speechless. Katara fell asleep with a smile on her face. Zuko slowly got to his feet and walked out of the room. Zora stopped her crying and Zuko could hear Ling cooing to the baby. He smiled that Katara was able to save the newborn. He did not want to think how Mim would react if his daughter had died. Zuko headed down the hall to the small gathering area in the house. He stopped at the entrance when he saw Mim. His friend was sitting at the table with his arms crossed. His face showed no emotion. On the table was a large bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Mim gave a crooked grin when he saw Zuko.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Mim murmured as he poured the whiskey into the glasses. "You've been missing for three years and you show up with a Southern Water Tribe female waterbender?" The grin became a smile. "You knew that was always my fantasy!"

"Katara," Zuko corrected as he gave Mim a dirty look. "Her name is Katara."

"Still my fantasy," Mim replied and took a sip. "Is it true that they can," he lowered his voice. "_You know._"

"What do you want to know, Mim?" Zuko asked ignoring the perverted question and controlling his anger. He leaned forward and took the second glass. He drank the whiskey in one gulp and gave the boy a glare when he slammed the glass on the table.

"Still think you can out drink me," Mim snorted and poured another glass. "I want to know what happened three years ago."

"You were there."

"I was at the Agni Kai," Mim corrected as a frown formed on his face. "I only saw what your bastard of a father did to you." He pointed at Zuko's face. "I don't know what happened afterwards."

"Like I said, it's a long story."

"It's early," Mim shrugged. "If you start now, you should be done before dinner." A cocky grin appeared on his face. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," he sang.

Zuko stared at Mim for a minute. He let out a defeated sigh and took another gulp of the whiskey. He cringed from the strong taste and placed the glass on the table. He stared at the floor as he tried to think how he should tell the story.

"Let's begin at the Agni Kai," Zuko said and started to tell Mim what happened during the three years, making sure that he did not leave anything out.


	20. Chapter 20

**Happy Zutara Week! **

**Enjoy & Review.**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

"That bastard," Mim murmured as he played with his empty glass. "That disgusting dishonorable bastard!" The glass slammed on the table. "I would've killed him with my bare hands if he did that to Ling!"

Zuko grunted and continued to drink the whiskey. Canary yellow eyes watched the banished prince emptied the glass and pour himself another drink. Mim closed his eyes and absorbed the details of Zuko's story. His friend went through hell but won. The rays of the afternoon sun hit the whiskey bottle giving the walls a distorted amber glow. Mim moved the bottle away when Zuko reached for it again. He narrowed his eyes but placed the empty glass on the table and pushed it away.

"I wanted to kill him," Zuko admitted and leaned back into his chair. "I almost did when I heard _him_ with her." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't though. It's Aang's destiny to stop Ozai."

"I wouldn't care if it is the fucking Avatar's destiny!" Mim snarled. "That filth damaged a beautiful woman!"

"She's not damaged!" Zuko growled as he glared at Mim. "And you know exactly what would happened if I killed Ozai!"

"A civil war," Mim concluded and let out a loud sigh. The friends were silent for a minute until he spoke again. "I can't believe you found the Avatar."

"I told you my story," Zuko reminded. "Tell me yours."

"My story is not as exciting as yours."

"Why were you exiled?"

Mim let out a defeated sigh and gave Zuko a dark look. "After the Agni Kai, I refused to carry out the orders to send the recruits to Ba Sing Se."

"They carried out those orders?" Zuko asked sounding shock. "Good men die in that stupid plan!"

"Ozai exiled me right after he forced me to put your unconscious body on the ship," Mim continued. "He told me that careless loyalties deserved to suffer in the wasteland." He let out a snort. "My father was disgusted with me and publicly disowned me. He said that he was embarrassed by me and that I had no honor," he sneered. "I was his only child! His line died when he turned his back!"

"I'm sorry that you lost everything."

"Don't be," Mim said as he frowned. "I have a life now, a real life. Besides, I think I was going to be exiled no matter what. A lot of your supporters _disappeared_. Someone was cleaning house after you were banished."

"That's nothing new," Zuko grumbled. "The Royal Family is known for making everyone believe that a royal didn't exist." A dark chuckle escaped from his lips. "I bet the generals where happy that I didn't become admiral."

"I can't believe that they let the fool, Turin, be admiral," Mim responded and curled his upper lip. "That man was a mess."

"That man wants to put my head on a platter," Zuko pointed out. "By the way, _your_ Yu Yan Archers are following Turin's orders."

Mim looked surprised at the news. He raised an eyebrow as he asked his next question. "Is Shinu still in charged?"

"Last time I remembered," Zuko answered as he thought back to the time when he rescued Aang from Zhao. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," Mim answered and became very silent. Zuko pressed his lips together as he watched his friend sit back with his arms crossed. His friend was hiding something but he could have cared less.

He wanted to get Katara out of this spirit forsaken nation.

****

Katara awoke feeling well rested. Her slumber was deep and her dreams were filled with happy memories. Not once did she have disturbing images of the Palace or hear the cruel laughter from Ozai. It has been a long time for her to feel completely at peace. She rolled over to her side, hoping to see Zuko in the room but her heart dropped when she saw no one.

_Probably still talking to Mim_, she thought as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her nose wrinkled at a disgusting smell. _Is that me?_ She took a sniff at her tunic and gagged. _I smell like one of Sokka's socks had mated with Appa!_

A soft knock was heard on the door. "Come in," she called out. Ling opened the door and gave the girl a big smile. Katara quickly returned the smile. "Ling! How's Zora?"

"She's doing well, Master Katara," Ling said as she entered the room. In her hands was a basket full of items. "Mim and I are forever in your debt."

Katara felt uncomfortable with the formalities. "Please, call me Katara," she said as she got out of bed. She wrinkled her nose even more when the stench became stronger. "Oh, I stink! It's been a month since I've taken a bath," she said embarrassingly.

"I figured you needed one," Ling said and gave her the basket.

Katara thanked the girl and went through it. She became excited when she saw the clean clothes, towels, and soap. She inhaled the scented bar and was rewarded with a fragrant scent of roses. Tears pooled in her eyes as she realized how much she missed these simple luxuries. "Thank you!" she cried out.

"You're acting like you have been denied simple pleasures," Ling said curiously. "Doesn't the prince lavish you with fine silk clothes and jewels?"

Katara flinched at the word _silk._ She pushed back the images of gold silk sheets and the sounds of a rustling silk robe. She could not understand why she was reacting negatively to the word now when she was wearing silks at the beginning of the month. She figured it was because she was still getting over the drug that Ozai forced in her system.

Ling raised an eyebrow when she saw the waterbender flinching. "Aren't you and the prince lovers?" she asked.

"No," Katara said sadly as she gripped the basket. "We're not lovers." Ling heard the longing in her voice.

_Never will be._

"Then why is a Water Tribe native traveling with the Fire Nation Prince?"

"Zuko rescued me. I was," Katara paused before finishing her sentence. "_A prisoner._" Ling stared at Katara for a moment and quickly nodded. From the look on Katara's face, the young mother knew something horrible happened to the waterbender.

"There's a natural spring not far from the house," Ling said as she changed the subject. "The reeds grow tall so no one can see you." She saw Katara relax. "The water should be nice since it was warmed by the afternoon sun."

Katara gave the young mother a hug. "I don't know how to thank you."

"You thanked me by giving my daughter a second chance," Ling answered and rubbed Katara's bare arms. "We should head to the gathering area. The boys have been silent for far too long."

"How do you know Mim and Zuko?" Katara asked. "Did you grow up with them?"

"No, I was a commoner," Ling answered in a quiet voice. "My father protested against the treatment of prisoners. We escaped when he heard rumors that the Fire Lord was punishing protesters by killing their family members."

"How awful."

"I met Mim by saving his life two years ago." Ling frowned at the memory. "While recovering, he told me stories about his childhood and how ashamed he was. I told him that he shouldn't be ashamed. He did what he believed was right. Of course, he had to be stubborn about it."

"Sounds familiar," Katara muttered.

"My husband believes he's ruthless," Ling said sadly. "He regrets doing the things that he had done."

"Do you believe he's ruthless?"

"No," Ling said proudly. "Ruthless men do not change."

****

Mim raised his head up when heard the bedroom door opened. Coming down the hall was Katara and Ling. Katara was holding a basket while Ling whispered something in her ear. Mim felt sorry for the girl. No one should go through what she went through. He wondered if the waterbender knew that Zuko was in love her. A smile appeared on his face as he glanced at his unsuspecting friend.

_It's time to find out._

"So, tell me about the waterbender," Mim requested casually as he watched the expression on everyone's faces. Katara's eyes widen then quickly narrowed. Ling gave a puzzled look. Not knowing that the women were behind him, Zuko growled at Mim.

"For the last time Mim," Zuko sneered as he clenched his fist. "Her name is Katara! She is not object or a thing! She's a person, a beautiful and caring person!"

Mim felt his smile growing when he saw the blush on Katara's face. She quickly looked at the ground as she shifted the basket in her hands. Ling raised an eyebrow at her husband until realization graced her face. A smirk appeared when she led Katara into the gathering area.

"It smells like depressing drunks," Ling said casually as she pushed the blushing Katara towards the table. Zuko froze in his spot and gave Mim a dirty look. Mim gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Katara!" Zuko exclaimed as he jump out of his chair. His heart began to pound as he began to wonder how much she had heard.

"You drank?" Katara gasped once she controlled her blush. Zuko could not tell if she was shocked or upset. Ling chuckled at the couple.

"You should have seen us when we were younger," Mim said with an amused snort. He pointed at Zuko. "This one can't even hold his alcohol half the time."

"You liked the stuff that tasted like fuel," Zuko grumbled.

"It was cheap and there was plenty of it," Mim smirked.

"Katara," Ling whispered as she gave the girl a nudge. "Why don't you go to the spring? I'll meet you in a few minutes. I have to check on Zora."

"Okay," Katara answered as she began heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" Zuko asked as he gently grabbed her arm.

"I'm going to take a much needed bath," Katara said. "Ling was kind enough of giving me some spare clothes"

"I should go with you."

"Absolutely not, your highness!" Ling shrilled. "She needs her privacy!"

"I'll be fine," Katara softly reassured. She gave him a smile and left the house.

"Darling," Mim laughed as he approached his wife. "There's no need to be formal."

"Then what should I call him?" Ling narrowed her eyes when she saw the bemused look on her husband's face. "An _appropriate_ _name_, Mim."

"I have a list of names that are appropriate," Mim answered as he rubbed his chin. His eyes sparkled with mischief. "It just depends on the situation."

"What situation?" Zuko asked as he felt himself getting uneasy.

"The situation of not telling that beautiful woman that you are hopelessly head over heels in love with her," Mim replied. His lip curled into a sneer. "And don't tell me because _it's complicated._"

"She doesn't feel the same," Zuko said dejectedly.

"That's were you're wrong," Ling said with a smile. "She loves you. I can tell."

_Could she?_ Zuko's heart sped up at the comment. _Could she be in love with me?_ His eyes travelled to the door and stared at it. Suddenly, Aang's face flashed before his eyes. He turned his head away and gave a deep sigh. "We need to find a town," he said softly. "Is there one nearby?"

Mim was shock to see his friend looking so defeated. The Prince Zuko he remembered would never accept defeat. He could not understand why his friend would not admit his feelings to a girl that felt the same. He glanced at Ling and saw the surprise look on her face. "There's one nearby," he said slowly. "It's located on the bluffs."

"I better get Zora and check on Katara," Ling said when she sensed the frustration from her husband. She disappeared from the gathering area.

"You're making a mistake," Mim said as he pointed his finger at Zuko.

"Its better this way," Zuko replied and returned to his seat. "How far is this town?"

"It's a walk," Mim vaguely answered and returned to the previous topic. "It won't get better. You'll be regretting it for the rest of your life."

"Drop it Mim," Zuko warned.

Ling returned to the gathering area placing Zora in a sling that crossed her chest. Her eyes rested on Zuko and then focused on her husband. The frustration ran deep on his face. He was behind her when she reached the door. "Talk to him," she whispered as her fingers touched the door knob. "He's being stubborn."

"I'm stubborn too," Mim answered and kissed her cheek. His lips travelled to her ear. "He keeps forgetting that I _always_ get my way."

****

"You need to sleep," Toph said as she walked up to Cree. The young man grunted at her as he stared out over the horizon. "We can't have our master strategist being exhausted when we make it to the Capitol."

A smirk appeared on Cree's face as he played with the gold woven bracelet. He glanced at the blind earthbender that was leaning casually on the railings. "I thought General Sokka was your master strategist."

"We let him think that," Toph snorted as she stuck her finger in her ear. Cree wrinkled his nose at the gesture. He could not understand how this girl could have so much wealth be so uncivilized. "Can this airship move any faster? Appa would have been there and back before this stupid floating metal balloon makes it."

"And lose our only army that we have?" Cree replied. He turned his attention back to the bracelet. "Why don't you tell me the real reason why you're here, Lady Bei Fong."

Toph blushed for a second. "Snoozles told me what happen at Norse," she replied and hung her head down. She felt the young captain still. "I'm sorry about your fiancée."

"It was five years ago," Cree answered roughly. "I've moved on."

"Bullshit."

"Language."

"Whatever," Toph snorted. "You're still hurting. How do I know that you're not going on some kind of suicide mission?"

"What do you think?" Cree asked darkly.

"I don't know what to think," Toph said honestly. "You're the second person that can hide their emotions."

"Who's the first?" Cree asked. He could not believe that anyone, including himself, could hide from the blind Earth Rumble champion.

"The first person was a sociopath bitch of a princess," Toph said and wrinkled her nose.

"You're very eloquent, Dust Bunny," Cree smiled for the first time since talking about Norse.

"You know me," Toph said with a smile. "I'm a cultured girl." Her hand gently rested on his arm. "Cappie, tell me about her." Her voice was soft and caring.

_How does she do it? _Cree thought as he stared at Toph. He could see the worry, the sadness, and the fear in her sightless jade eyes. _How can a mere girl figure me out? _

"Her name was Thalia," Cree said as he pocketed the bracelet. "We met while I was on leave from King Bumi's guards."

****

Aang let out a defeated sigh and opened his eyes. The young monk has been meditating for weeks and he still has not successfully given up on Katara. The reason why he was not successful was simply because he did not want to give her up.

_I love her! Why should I give her up?_

"Any success young Aang?" Pathik asked while he was in a warrior pose.

The yoga position reminded Aang of Katara. The waterbender would always do her yoga in the morning while he and Zuko meditate. He would sneak a peak at her form before Zuko would bark at her that she was being distracting. Anger went through him when he thought about the firebender.

_Did Zuko stare at her while she did yoga?_

"No," Aang snapped as he shook the thoughts out of his mind.

"You have to keep trying," Pathik said as he went into the downward dog position. "You have to let go so the charkas can be opened. Only then you can reach the Avatar State."

Aang held back the retort that was brewing. He knew it was pointless to vent his anger at the old guru, no matter how annoying he was. Guru Pathik was only guiding him to the Avatar State. It was just frustrating to hear the old man repeating his words over and over again. Taking a deep breath, Aang closed his eyes and focused on his heartbeat. The gentle beating rhythm even his breath and he felt himself relaxing.

He opened his eyes again and found himself sitting alone. The world around him was grey and there was no sound. He knew right away that he was in the Spirit World. A figure suddenly appeared a few feet away from him. "Avatar Roku!" he shouted as he slowly stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"Follow me, Aang," Roku replied shortly.

"Where are we going?" Aang asked as he ran up to his past life.

Roku gave a grunt before answering. "I don't think you fully understand the need to go into the Avatar State," he said. "I think it's best if I showed you."

"Huh?" Aang asked and suddenly he found himself in darkness. "I can't see!" he cried out.

"Follow my voice," the older avatar's voice echoed.

Aang listened to the voice and blindly stumbled in the darkness. His hands went out to find something to grasp but he knew that was pointless. There was nothing to feel in the Spirit World. He felt like he walked a long time in the dark and the silence was getting to him. He was about to complain to the older avatar when suddenly he was blinded by brightness. He blinked his eyes and found himself on the airship.

"Why are we here?"

"To see your friends," Roku answered and then walked through a wall. Aang took a deep breath and followed his former life.

Walking through the wall was a strange feeling. His mind was telling him that he would hit something solid but instead he felt nothing but air. On the other side of the wall was Sokka. The Water Tribe warrior was sitting at the table, his hands holding his head. Since a map was lying in front of the warrior, Aang thought Sokka fell asleep while he was planning. The sight was nothing new. Sokka always fell asleep during his planning. What was new was the shaking of the shoulders.

"Is he crying?" Aang asked as he wished he could hear Sokka. Never in his life has he seen his friend cry.

"Yes," Roku said sadly. "He has been like this since you told him the reason why you can't go into the Avatar State."

"I made him cry?"

"He's crying for his sister," Roku said. "Every night he prays for his sister's safety and that she returns with Prince Zuko." Aang flinched when he heard the firebender's name. Roku gave the young monk a sideways glance. "He's also angry at you."

"I know," Aang replied and his shoulders slump. "This war would've been over if I gone into the Avatar State much sooner."

"Maybe," Roku said and placed his hand on Aang's shoulder. The airbender could not help but raise an eyebrow. "Come." He pushed Aang through another wall.

Aang found himself on the gangplank of the port side of the airship. A few feet away from him were Toph and Captain Cree. The two appeared to be in a deep conversation. Toph rested her hand on his arm and asked something. The young captain stared at her with pain in his eyes. He made a deep sigh and pocketed the gold object that was in his hand. He started to speak and Toph rested her head on his arm.

"He's been blaming himself since his fiancée's death," Roku said and pointed at Cree. "He's finally letting go."

Aang did not have a chance to respond because everything went black. He let out a gasp when his surroundings lit up again. This time he was in a small house. Two boys and a girl were talking at the table. Aang saw the recognizable feature of a scar on one of the boys' face. "_Zuko_," he growled.

Roku gave a soft smile when he studied the banished prince. "He has her eyes," he whispered.

"Whose eyes?" Aang asked but Roku did not answer.

Aang saw the conflicted Zuko staring at the door. The banished prince lowered his head and said something. Whatever he said had shock the boy. He glanced at the girl and she returned the same look of surprise. Once again, Aang wished he could hear in the Spirit World. He glanced around the room and noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Katara?" Aang asked when he realized that his waterbender was missing.

"Follow me," Roku said and went through the wooden door. Aang let out a sigh and followed the old avatar.

The scenery sped around him once he stepped through the door. He felt himself getting dizzy and was relieved when the world stopped moving. He felt his heart pounding in his chest when his eyes landed on the person he missed the most. "Katara!" he shouted and then instantly felt foolish. She could not hear him since he was in the Spirit World.

Katara was practicing her waterbending at the edge of a spring. Her arms moved in a graceful matter and her face was scrunched up in concentration. Sweat formed on her forehead and she was breathing heavily. Aang recognized the form to be a very basic waterbending position but he could not understand why she was struggling. She was a master waterbender.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's been hurt in the most dishonorable way possible," Roku answered sadly.

"She looks fine to me," Aang said sounding confused. "I don't see any scars."

"You can be hurt without any visible scars." Roku let out a loud sigh. "She's going to be a different woman when you see her again." Aang was silent and watched Katara bend. She did not look like she was in pain but she did look sad, almost heartbroken.

"Aang," Roku said and placed his hand on the young monk's shoulder. "If you don't go into the Avatar State, then your friends are going to die. See for yourself."

Katara disappeared in front of Aang's eyes when the world began to spin. Soon shapes of men and tents appeared around him. One man was barking orders to the other men at the campsite. "Admiral Turin," Roku said with disgust. "His mission is to kill Prince Zuko and capture Master Katara." The world spun again and this time the two avatars were at the Palace. Soldiers were pulling a device that looked like a catapult. Ozai was watching the scene with great amusement. "A trebuchet to take down the airship." The world spun and Aang closed his eyes. He was tired of the spinning. His eyes opened and saw himself standing on the wall of Ba Sing Se. Off in the horizon, he saw something that scared him to the core. From a distance, he saw the Fire Nation Army marching towards the great wall. "Ba Sing Se have one more battle left in her," Roku said and looked down at Aang.

"Why are you showing me this?" Aang asked as he felt anger and fear flowing through him.

"To make sure that you fully understand that everyone that you cared for will die if you don't go into the Avatar State."

Aang let out a gasp and opened his eyes. Pathik was standing in front of him, looking very worried. "What did you see, Aang?" he asked.

"I have to get out of here," Aang replied as he slowly went to his feet.

"What did you see?" Pathik asked again as he followed the young monk.

"My friends and Ba Sing Se," Aang answered as he headed to Appa.

"What did you see?" the guru shouted.

Aang stopped tending to Appa and lowered his head. "Approaching death," he whispered. He jumped on to Appa's head and grabbed the reins. "I have to go, the world needs me."

Before Pathik had a chance to speak, Aang tugged on the reins and Appa bounded into the air. The guru helplessly watched the young monk slowly disappeared into the sky.


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks for the great reviews! I have some good news and bad news....Bad news: I'm going to stop Kenosha. I lost inspiration on that story, which is a bummer. Don't worry, The War Prize and What We Need will continue. Good News: As strange as it sounds, another zutara story is forming in my head (why can't it focus on Kenosha, who knows. It's like a tootsie roll lollipop). Idea is that it will be starting from Crossroads of Destiny (basically, adios season 3). Hopefully a new chapter will be out once my mind sort the story out.**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

_It was a horrible play._

_Zuko disappeared once they returned to the beach house. Sokka and Suki ran upstairs to one of the rooms to spend some quality time. Toph announced that she was sleeping on Appa because she did not want to hear or feel Dumb and Dumber. Only Aang and Katara were standing in the courtyard. She needed to leave and be alone._

"_I'm going for a walk," Katara announced out loud. The young monk turned his head looking eager. "Alone," she snapped and stormed out of the courtyard._

_Katara let her feet take her to the beach. Her mind was filled with thoughts on the play. Why did it suggest that the banished prince and her were lovers? Why did her character say that Aang was a brother? Was she really that whiny? Did she really look fat? Why did she freak out when Aang tried to kiss her? Why does being with him bother her so much?_

"_Augh!" Katara growled as she stopped in her tracks. She could not answer all these questions tonight, especially the silly ones. She took a deep calming breath and continued on her walk. This time she thought about the person that has been consuming her thoughts, Zuko._

_There was something about the banished prince that sparked something in her. Maybe because it was the fact that he was constantly challenging her. Maybe because he always made her feel satisfied and still wanting more. She knew one thing though; no one else made her feel complete._

_She felt her face flushed as she thought about their field trip. He wanted her forgiveness so badly that he helped her find the man that killed her mother. He saw her at her worst and he did not hate her. Shame flooded her. She had seen Zuko at his worst and she loathed him for that. Knowing Zuko though, he probably would say that he deserved it. _

_Katara made a snort. "Of course he would say that," she muttered out loud. "He's a stupid, noble, perfect gentleman."_

_After confronting her mother's killer, she felt sorry for herself and she thought it was a good idea to kiss the banished prince. She actually shoved her tongue down his throat! She had never done anything like that before. Not with Aang and definitely not with Jet. _

_A smirk appeared on her face. She had shocked Zuko. She felt him stiffened and then he quickly returned the kiss. The weird part was that during the kiss, Katara realized that she needed him. She needed and wanted him. Her body warmed when she thought about the throaty moan he made. She was hurt when he pulled away but was quickly relieved that he rejected her not because she was a peasant because it was not right. He told her that she deserved to be loved._

_Why does she keep thinking that it should be Zuko loving her?_

_Katara made it to the sandy beach and saw that she was not alone. A few feet away was Zuko sitting on the sand. His back was turned but she knew that he heard her._

"_Do you want to be alone?" Katara asked praying that he would say no._

"_No."_

_Katara smiled as she slowly walked up to him and sat down. She tucked her knees under her chin. Zuko did not turn his head. His eyes were focused on the water. After several minutes, Katara broke the silence. _

"_Horrible play." _

"_Very." Sometimes talking to Zuko was like pulling teeth._

"_Don't believe a word of it."_

"_Which part?"_

"_The part where Azula killed you and you screamed about your honor." The comment was responded with a low chuckle from the firebender. Katara smiled at herself. She can be funny._

"_The play was right though," Zuko said now directing his attention to Katara._

"_About what?"_

"_What I said to Uncle," Zuko sighed. Katara felt her heart go out to him. He was still beating himself up about that._

"_Zuko," Katara whispered and opened her arms. Zuko took the hint and leaned into the embrace. She nuzzled her nose into his hair. He smelled like the woods. Somehow she found that smell seductive. He let out a loud sigh as she rocked him. "Your uncle knows you didn't mean it. You were just confused."_

"_It hurts though," Zuko whispered. "Just hearing it was a slap to the face."_

_There was nothing she could say that would make him feel better. So she continued to rock him. Zuko nuzzled his head into her neck. A blush formed on her face. She should not be reacting like this._

_Zuko let himself out of the embrace and lay down in the sand. He made his head comfortable in her lap. His amber eyes focused on the stars and Katara's fingers played with his hair. She studied the scar on his face._

"_How did you get the scar?" Katara asked. She saw his jaw clenched at the question. "You don't have to answer that," she said with guilt._

"_Ozai gave it to me," Zuko answered quietly._

_Her blue eyes widen and her fingers stop playing with his hair. She leaned over his head so she can see his eyes. Her brown hair created a curtain around them and a few strands fell on his nose. Zuko wrinkled his nose and his hand swatted the strands away._

"_Please tell my you're joking," Katara said, her voice starting to crack. She knew Ozai was cruel but to mark his child? That was just beyond evil._

"_I wish I was," Zuko sighed. His eyes fixated on the strand of brown hair that was wrapped around his index finger._

_Katara did not press on. There was nothing more to ask or tell. She watched Zuko twist her hair around his finger. His eyes that usually had a bright amber color are now a dull gold. She held back the tears. He did not deserve pity. Her fingers gently caressed the scarred side of his face. She could not understand why his skin was so cool to the touch. He was a firebender. Firebenders should be warm. Her caress made him stopped playing with her hair and looked into her eyes._

"_I remembered you doing that in Ba Sing Se," Zuko said looking at her. "You were the first person to touch my scar."_

"_What about now?"_

"_You're still the first."_

_Katara smiled at the comment. She felt special that she was the only person to touch his scar. It could have been his comment or the moment but something compelled Katara to lean towards his face. Noticing that she was moving closer, Zuko raised his head up. She felt the gentle touch of his lips and she instantly moved with them. The kiss was sweet and innocent but she could feel the passion behind it. Zuko was the one to let go first and let out a breath of air._

"_What was that for?" Zuko asked breathlessly._

"_Just because," Katara smiled. A slow smile spread across his face. Her heart pounded in her ears._

_Zuko slowly stood up and arched his back when he stretched. Katara thanked the spirits that Zuko did not see her blush. She has been doing that way too much around him. He gave her a crooked grin._

"_Come my fair maiden," Zuko teased and stuck out his hand. "We should head back to the manor before your brother finds us gone!"_

_Katara burst into laughter at the line and the ridiculous voice that Zuko used. She grabbed his hand was quickly brought to her feet. "You're a lousy actor," she snorted. "Who says that crap anyways?"_

"_Seemed to work with the actor that played me," Zuko smirked. He followed Katara back to the beach house. "Maybe I should let my hair grow out like his." A deep chuckle vibrated through his throat._

"_No way!" Katara laughed and gave him a push. "I think I should have the prettiest hair in the group!"_

"_Selfish peasant," Zuko smiled and offered his arm._

"_Spoiled prince," Katara replied and linked her arm around his._

_The two walked back to the beach house in silence. Katara enjoyed the silence as she thought about her actions with Zuko a few minutes ago. She had kissed him again and it felt just as wonderful as the first. He always made her blush even when he was doing nothing. _

_One thing was true from that stupid play, she was confused._

****

Katara let out a moan of pleasure as she slowly sink into the warm water. She wetted her hair and reached for the rose scented soap. Creating a rich lather, she applied it to her hair and began to scrub. She could feel the dirt and grime leaving as her fingers massage her scalp. She could not help but let out a content sigh. It was sad that she was denied simple pleasures. She remembered that she cried when Zuko showed her the luxury bath area at the beach house.

She grabbed the soap again after she rinsed her hair. The foamy lather returned and she began scrubbing her body. The rose scent danced in her nose as she cleared her mind. She did not want to think about the past. The past made her regret things. Not on things she did but things she wished she did. She regretted that she never told Zuko that she loved him simply because of fear. She had plenty of chances to tell him that she loved him but the simple fear of him rejecting her was too great. She felt like a coward when she blurted out the words while he was unconscious or asleep.

A sigh escaped from her lips as she stopped scrubbing. Thinking about Zuko was depressing her. She pushed her thoughts away from the firebender and focused on a new topic, her waterbending. Before bathing, she practiced her basic formations. The simple moves were difficult but she was happy that she was able to move through a whole series without becoming exhausted. She could not understand why she still struggled with the basics when she killed four men by directing water in the tree bark within a twenty four hour period.

_Probably the adrenaline,_ Katara reasoned as she started to scrub again. _Adrenaline does strange things._

"Katara?" a gentle voice called out through the reeds.

"I'm still in the spring, Ling!" Katara answered as she covered herself. "I'm almost done!"

"Take your time," Ling replied behind the reeds. "There's no rush." There was a brief pause before she spoke again. "He loves you."

Katara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Who?" she asked with a shaky voice. It was a stupid question because she knew _who_ Ling was talking about.

"The Crown Prince."

Katara did not respond as she rinsed the soap off her body. She pulled herself out of the spring and grabbed the towel lying next to the basket. She quickly dried herself off and put on the clothes that Ling gave her. The drawstring bottoms were loose and hit her knees. The top was a simple v-neck shirt. Scratchy cotton was used to make the burgundy color outfit. She placed the dirty items in the basket and carried it towards Ling. The young mother was sitting on a rock nursing Zora.

"Do you have a laundry basin?" Katara asked as she purposely changed the subject. "I would like to wash these clothes."

"I'll burn them," Ling said with a wave of her hand. "Those clothes can't be saved." She raised her eyebrow at Katara. "Do you love the Crown Prince?"

Katara sat on the rock and let out a sad sigh. "It's complicated." She tucked her knees under her chin.

"Complicated?" Ling asked as she glanced at Zora. The baby fell asleep during her feeding.

Katara let out another sigh. "I'm supposed to be with someone else."

"You have a fiancé?" Ling readjusted her top and made sure that Zora was secured in the sling.

"No, I'm not engaged."

"Then I don't understand."

"I'm supposed to be with Aang," Katara said as she stared at her toes.

"Who's Aang?"

"The Avatar."

Ling almost dropped Zora. She stared at Katara with wide shock eyes as she processed the information that the young woman gave her. "The Avatar is alive?" she stuttered.

Katara nodded and told the young mother her travels before the comet. Ling's saffron eyes kept getting wider and wider. When she was done explaining, Katara hung her head down and returned staring at her toes. She felt the tears running down her cheeks.

"Do you love the Avatar?"

"No," Katara said and wiped her eyes. "I had feelings for him once but now …" she let out a heavy sigh.

"You feel obligated," Ling guessed. Katara gave a sad nod. "You're not a prize to be won," she said gently.

Katara flinched at the choice of words. "It just seems fair."

"By sacrificing your happiness?" Ling snorted and adjusted the sleeping baby's weight in the sling.

Katara turned her head away and closed her eyes. The young mother was right about sacrificing her happiness just to make Aang happy. "Zuko doesn't love me," she said sadly.

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm just a peasant."

"Listen Katara," Ling said and wrapped an arm around her. "I was a peasant and Mim came from a powerful merchant family." Katara rested her head on Ling's shoulder. "Our exile brought us together. We would never have met if we stayed at the Capitol."

"Zuko wouldn't want me."

"Why?" Ling asked sounding confused. "You're a beautiful woman. You're brave because you fought Ozai's military. You're strong because you're a bender. You're smart because you taught the Avatar."

"I'm damaged."

"Damaged?" Ling asked quizzically and then let out a horrid gasp when it dawned on her. "You don't mean!" Katara sadly nodded.

"I became a plaything for Ozai's _pleasure_," Katara whispered hoarsely. The last word rolled off her tongue with hatred. She shrugged Ling's arm away and pushed herself off the rock. She began to pace and wrapped her arms around her body. She felt the young mother's eyes staring at her as she walked around in a circle.

"I'm sorry," Ling whispered as she struggled to get on her feet.

"What could I possibly give him?" Katara continued ignoring Ling's comment. "I'm afraid to sleep because I see gold eyes. I went into hysterics because I smelled perfume. My skin crawls when I hear the word _waterbender_. I can feel my heart stopping when I think about silk items." She whirled around to face Ling. "Zuko deserves more than my love! He deserves a woman that would give him her body!"

"Katara!" Ling shouted and grabbed the young woman's shoulders. "He doesn't want a body to keep his bed warm! He wants you! All of you!"

"How do you know?" Katara spat and stepped away from Ling. "What makes you believe that?"

Ling's eyes dropped as she wrapped her arms around the sling. She took a deep breath before looking up. Her saffron eyes were filled with sadness. "He's in pain because you're in pain," she whispered. "He's suffering because you're suffering. He will do anything to make you stop hurting." She stopped Katara's protest by raising her hand. "I know because I went through it."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked as she found herself sitting on the rock again.

"Mim had a hard time adjusting to his exile," Ling said as she sat down next to Katara. "I accidently stumbled onto him when he was trying to kill himself." She closed her eyes when she heard the gasp. "My father passed away months ago from a long illness and I was furious that someone that was my age wanted to end his life when my father fought so long to keep his."

"Ling."

The young mother ignored Katara's pleading voice. "I offered Mim a place to stay if he helped around the house." A smirk appeared on her face. "Spirits he was horrible! He didn't know how to use a hammer! We couldn't stand being in the same room or being separated!"

"How do you know it was love not pity?"

"Oh, I pitied him," Ling said with a snort. "I pitied him because he was an exile. I pitied him because his upbringing and training did not teach him how to survive and be grateful."

"So, you don't love him?" Katara asked looking confused. "You married him because you felt sorry and it was convenient?"

Ling looked offended. "I didn't say that," she growled. "I married him because I _am_ in love with him. Through our fights, disagreements, and pity; I fell in love with him."

Katara stared at the woman's profile. Her long black hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail. Her unblemished skin was not pale like Zuko's. Instead it had a golden color because she spent time in the sun. Her rough and calloused hands showed that the woman worked hard all through her life. Suddenly she remembered what Zuko told her at the village after they sold the gold hairpin. "Where's your haircomb?" she asked.

Ling blinked at the question before she let out a soft chuckle. "My marriage is not recognized by Fire Nation law." She saw the confusion in Katara's eyes. "Out here, there's no piece of paper that says we're married. Haircombs are considered an unnecessary item. All we need is a witness, a declared official, and the eyes of the spirits."

"Very similar to my tribe," Katara said. "We don't keep records and the chief does the ceremony. We marry at night because that's when the spirits are with us. It's considered good luck to get married during the Winter Solstice."

"Your tribe and the Fire Nation are the same," Ling smiled. "Our ceremonies take place when the sun hits its zenith. We believe its good luck to be married during the Summer Solstice. I would've liked to get married during the solstice but we had an unexpected blessing." She glanced at the sleeping Zora.

The two fell in a comfortable silence and listened to the heavy breathing of the baby. Katara thought about what Ling just said. She should tell Zuko that she loved him. It did sound like that Zuko felt the same. Still the fear of being rejected was eating her away.

"Just tell him," Ling said as she stared at the reeds. "What's holding you back?"

_It's time to tell her the truth._

"I'm afraid of him rejecting me," Katara admitted and her body started to shake. Ling pulled Katara into a hug, Zora squeezed between the girls. "My heart almost broke when I thought I lost him once. I don't know what I'll do if I _do_ lose him!"


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks for the great reviews! **

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Zuko stared at the map in disbelief. He could not believe what he was seeing. Mim stared at him with a smirk on his face.

"Makes you think that those bedtime stories hold some truth."

"Impossible," Zuko muttered as he rubbed his jaw. "This place doesn't exist!"

"It exists," Mim shrugged and pretended to look disinterested.

"It has to be a joke!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Unless I'm getting my supplies at an imagery town," Mim replied with a chuckle. "You're looking at Ronin."

Growing up, Mim and Zuko dreamed of capturing Ronin and becoming national heroes. The town was believed to be the home for deserters, spies, and prisoners of war. No one knew the location and people believed that is was an urban legend, propaganda that the Royal Family created to instill nationalism and fear.

"It's an actual port?" Zuko asked as he studied the map. "How's that possible? The coast is all bluffs. There's nowhere to dock!"

"Except for one area," Mim answered as he pointed at a section on the map. "The bluffs narrow itself into a cove. The waters are calm and we're hidden if a ship ventures to the area. For supplies, we steal from certain sources."

"You're pirates?" Zuko asked remembering the last time he enlisted their help. It was not one of his best moments in his life.

"Nah, too much work," Mim laughed. "We steal from them, pretty easy too when you have waterbenders."

"You have waterbenders?"

"Remember our tutor telling us about the uprising at one of the prisoner's camps that happened sixty years ago?" Mim asked. Zuko nodded as he recalled the history lesson. "The waterbenders are the descendants of those prisoners." He burst into laughter over Zuko's bewildered look. "Ronin is one huge melting pot! They'll take anyone that has been exiled, banished, cast out, or deflected."

Zuko's throat went dry. "My mother." He licked his dry lips. "Is she there?"

Mim looked down when he answered. "No. I looked for her, I swear. She was a mother to me since I had none." He shook his head. "Anyways, we should leave at sunrise."

"_We?_" Zuko asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You think you can go to Ronin alone?" Mim scoffed.

"You have a family," Zuko reminded and pointed a finger. "I'm not putting you in danger."

"You keep forgetting where my loyalties lie. Let me remind you; my country, my family and my honor."

"I'm ordering you to stay!" Zuko growled.

"You're not the prince anymore, Zuko!" Mim yelled. "You can't tell me what to do! Then again, you couldn't tell me what to do when you were a prince!"

"You're my friend!" Zuko shouted. "I'm not losing any more people that I care about!"

"So why are you letting Katara go?"

"She has to leave! She suffered too long!"

Mim raised his hands in the air. "That's not what I'm talking about!"

Zuko blinked at his friend. "What?"

"Why are you letting her go?" Mim repeated his question. "You love her but you're letting her walk out of your life!"

"Like I said, it's complicated," Zuko answered as his shoulders slumped.

Mim knew he was going to cross the line on what he was going to say next. "The only complication I'm seeing," he sneered. "Is trying to image Katara fucking you with that ugly scar on your face!"

"Asshole!" Zuko yelled and lunged at Mim.

The banished prince has always been the agile one of the two as he leapt over the table trying to hit Mim. But Mim has always been the stronger one and he grabbed the banished prince's arm and swung him to the ground. Zuko's face hit the floor and he saw stars. Mim grabbed the collar of his tunic and tugged him up like a mother panther-tiger carrying her cub. Zuko felt himself being dragged across the floor and through the door.

"Where are you taking me?" Zuko gasped as he clawed at Mim's hand.

"A much deserve dunk," Mim stated as he lifted Zuko up by the collar and dunked his head in a barrel full of rain water. He silently counted the seconds before he pulled Zuko's head out of the water. He watched with amusement as his friend gasped for air. "Let's try this again," he said. "Why are you letting Katara go and the answer better not be _it's complicated_. I'm really getting tired of that stupid answer."

Zuko did not have the chance to answer when he found himself underwater again. He desperately grabbed the rim of the barrel to pull himself up but Mim had a firm grip on his neck. He spat out the water once his head came up for air. "It's Aang!" he gasped. "She loves Aang!"

"The Avatar?" Mim asked in disbelief and threw Zuko to the ground. "You expect me to believe that she's in love with the Avatar?" He gave an undignified snort. "Shit, you should've stayed with the _it's complicated_ excuse."

"It's true," Zuko said while taking deep breaths. "Aang has been in love with her for a long time and it's obvious that she cares for him."

"Did she tell you that she was in love with him?" Mim asked looking like he was going to hit something. Zuko shook his head. "So you're just assuming she does. Refresh my memory, who does she go to when she needs reassurance?"

"Me."

"Held her?"

"Me."

"Never took her for granted?"

Zuko sighed. "Me."

"So it appeared that the Avatar was doing dick while you're busting your butt to make sure that she was safe and happy. Has it ever occurred to you that she might be confused or scared to admit her feelings to you?"

Zuko turned his head away from the piercing gaze of his friend. "No," he muttered.

"Of course not!" Mim grumbled and hit his forehead. "It's hard to believe that you created the most successful campaigns in Fire Nation history but when it came to women, you're a complete idiot! Remember the incident with the butcher's daughter?"

Zuko's head snapped back towards Mim. "What are you talking about?" he shouted. "_You_ wanted the butcher's daughter! I was the one that was chased through the market naked! Thanks to you, I'm nervous around meat cleavers!"

A smirk appeared on Mim's face. "Oh yeah, that did happen!" He laughed. "I think I got the sister too!"

"Seriously," Zuko snorted at his friend's audacity. "Why did Ling married you?"

"Believe it or not," Mim said as he puffed his chest. "She loves me."

"How did you two meet?"

"You're changing the subject," Mim said as he sat down next to Zuko. "That's okay; I think you deserved to know."

Zuko raised an eyebrow when he heard the dark tone in Mim's voice. "Know what?"

Mim took a deep breath before speaking. "Let's just say I wasn't in a good place when Ling found me."

"What do you mean?"

"I was planning to kill myself," Mim answered looking away. "A year had passed since my exile and things were not getting any better. I'm surprised that I lasted that long."

"Shit, Mim."

"Oh it gets better." Mim gave a dark chuckle. "I stole a bottle of moonshine and was about to perform an Agni Jisatsu. I had the flame ready when Ling stumbled upon me."

Zuko was speechless. To perform an Agni Jisatsu, a firebender was doused with the most potent alcohol and they light themselves on fire. He had heard stories about soldiers choosing this option over being capture by the enemy. During the first week of his banishment, Zuko had considered it but quickly dismissed it because there was no honor to it. He was shock that his overly confident friend would go down that path.

"Ling was furious with me," Mim continued sounding ashamed. "She took the bottle out of my hand and slapped me. I was shocked that a peasant hit me, so I threaten her." This time he truly laughed. "She ignored my threats. She lectured me for an hour about how I had no honor if I was considering suicide. After her ranting, she took my hand and dragged me to her cottage. She offered me to live here but I had to do my part. She expected my do housework, Zuko! I never cleaned anything in my life!"

"So you fell in love with her because she had a backbone."

"No." Mim shook his head. "I _hated _her because she had a backbone! We were always at each other throats. There were days that I wanted to kill her."

"Then why did you marry her?"

"Because I'm in love with her," Mim snorted. "It took me a while to admit it but when I did, I never been happier."

"How did you know that you loved her?" Zuko asked, clearly interested.

"Her eyes," Mim answered in a faraway voice. He laughed when he saw the look of confusion on his friend's face. "I know, it sounds weird but she has the most beautiful eyes. They sparkle when she gets excited and I did everything to see them sparkle." He gave a shy smile. "I realized that my day was not complete if her eyes didn't sparkle."

"That's pathetic," Zuko chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," Mim smiled. "And I'll bet that you have some silly pathetic thing on Katara." He chuckled when saw Zuko's face going red and punched his arm. "Don't ever call me pathetic, you pathetic sack of shit!" He jumped to his feet and stuck out his hand. "Since that pathetic moment is over, let's say you get cleaned up and find you some clothes!"

Zuko was lifted to his feet when he took his friend's hand. "Why?"

"Because you're going to tell Katara that you love her."

Zuko gulped. "And if I refused?"

"I hope you kept up with the naval training during your banishment." Mim gave a devilish smile as he glanced at the barrel.

****

The girls shot their heads up when they heard someone whistling a high pitched note. Katara cringed at the sound. "What was _that?_" she inquired.

"_That_ was my husband," Ling answered sounding annoyed. She glanced at Zora and gave a sigh of relief, the child was asleep.

"Is he always that obnoxious?"

"Oh yes," Ling sighed. "Now you can understand why we couldn't stand each other at first."

"I'm having a hard time seeing how those two could be best friends," Katara said as she wrinkled her nose. "They're complete opposites!"

Mim appeared with a huge smile on his face and a grumpy prince behind him. Zuko rolled his eyes as Mim gave them a big bow. Katara was curious on why the young firebender was acting peculiar and gave Ling a questioning look. The young mother shrugged her shoulders and struggled to get to her feet. Mim was quickly at her side and helped her up. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Darling," Mim crooned as he pulled his wife closer to him. "Why don't we take a walk?"

"Now?" Ling asked as she adjusted Zora's weight in the sling. "I have to prepare dinner."

"Dinner can wait," Mim said and began dragging Ling away. "I want to walk with the most beautiful woman in the Fire Nation."

"Really?" Ling said and raised an eyebrow. "Where is she?"

Zuko started to chuckle and Katara had to hold back a laugh with her hand. Mim tried to look offended but could not contain the smile that was growing on his face. "Cheeky woman," he laughed and kissed her nose. "That's why I married you." His voice lowered when he walked past Zuko. "_Good luck._"

Once the couple was out of earshot, Ling looked up at her husband. "Do you think this is a good idea? Forcing them to admit their feelings?"

"It's a good idea," Mim reassured and rubbed Ling's arm. "Besides, we would know if it was a bad idea when one of them returns."

"And which one do you think would return?" Ling teased.

"Katara."

****

_It was the only private moment that they had before sunrise. _

_Everyone had to move on with their plans without the Avatar. Sokka, Suki, and Toph where heading to the airships so they can stop them from burning the world. Iroh and the Order of the White Lotus where heading to Ba Sing Se and take it back from the Fire Nation. _

_Katara decided to move on without Aang. She dragged Zuko away from the group to tell him what was on her mind._

"_Katara, what's wrong?" Zuko asked as he let Katara lead him away from his uncle._

"_I wanted to talk to you," Katara said simply._

"_Couldn't you talk to me at the campsite?"_

"_This is important and I wanted no one to hear me."_

"_Oh."_

_Katara continued to guide Zuko until she felt like she was away from anyone hearing their conversation or feeling her heartbeat. She let go of Zuko's hand and began to play with the wrinkle on her robe. She could not look into his eyes._

"_Katara?" Zuko asked sounding concern. "Is everything okay?"_

"_No," Katara said as she kept on playing with the wrinkle. "With Aang missing and the comet."_

"_Oh," Zuko said sounding annoyed. "Aang." _

_Katara wanted to smack her forehead. "It's not about Aang," she whispered and forced herself to look into his eyes. She held back the sigh that was brewing in her. His eyes were breathtaking._

"_Then what is it?" Zuko answered crossing his arms. _

"_Us," Katara confessed. The prince dropped his arms and stared at her with wide eyes. "I'm worried about us."_

_Katara stood in her spot and started to fidget. Her mind screamed at her that she should not have said anything. She should have kept her mouth shut. Without a warning, Zuko reached out and pulled Katara into his arms. She felt herself collapse into his embrace._

"_We'll be fine," Zuko whispered as he played with her hair. "Nothing is going to happen to us."_

_Katara did not know if he was talking about the mission or them in general. She pulled herself closer to his body. She buried her face into his chest and smelled his woodsy scent._

"_I have to tell you this," Katara muffled into his chest._

"_You can tell me when all this is over," Zuko said and hugged her tighter. Katara thought there was sadness in his voice._

"_But," Katara pleaded but Zuko stopped her short. He pulled her chin up with his hand._

"_Tell me later," Zuko said with a husky voice._

_Katara found herself accepting defeat with Zuko. "Kiss me?" she asked with a blush. "Just for luck?"_

_Zuko gave a chuckle and leaned towards her. Her lips moved with his and her hands gripped the front of his tunic. She felt Zuko's hands sliding down her back and resting on her hips. The familiar heat in her body started to grow and before she could do anything else, Zuko pulled away._

"_You're becoming very selfish," Zuko said huskily as he stared into her eyes. "I'm not going to kiss you every time you ask."_

"_I hope I would never have to ask again," Katara said without thinking. Zuko's eyes harden and suddenly release Katara from his embrace. _

"_Goodnight Katara," Zuko whispered and walked away._

_Katara's hand went straight to her mouth when she realized what she just said. Her heart dropped that Zuko had misunderstood her comment._

****

Zuko nervously stared at Katara. She was dressed in a simple outfit and her attention was focused on a rock that was next to her foot. A gentle wind played with her hair and a fragrant smell drifted towards him. His throat went dry when he recognized the scent.

_Why does she smell like roses? She's from the South Pole! There are no roses in the South Pole!_

He cleared his throat. Not only to get her attention but to make sure that he could speak. "Katara," he said shakily. She raised her head and he could see that her eyes were starting to get wet. "I have something important to tell you."


	23. Chapter 23

**Wow, I'm sick and you get a chapter for this story and What We Need! Thanks for the great reviews! **

**WARNING!!! SMUT! Be gentle, it's my first time!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

"What do you want to tell me?" Katara asked while she fidgeted in her spot. The rock was starting to look more interesting than staring at the banished prince.

"Mim told me that there's a town not too far from here," Zuko said and suddenly cringed. _That's not what I wanted to say!_

"Really?" Katara replied still refusing to look up. She kicked the rock away from her. _That's the important thing he had to tell me?_ "I thought you told me that there was nothing in the western region." _So much for Ling believing that he loves me._

"There's a deserter's town called Ronin," Zuko answered wishing he could stop talking. "It's a port town."

"So we're actually going to leave this island," Katara said as she finally looked up. She felt the tears pricking her eyes as she stared at him. _We're not going to see each other again._

Zuko turned his head away. He saw the tears in her eyes and thought they were tears of happiness. "Yeah, we're leaving this island." He ran his hand through his hair. "You get to go back to your family and Aang." _The lucky bastard._

"Yeah," Katara sighed and wiped her eyes. _He wants me to be with Aang._ "Aang."

Something about her answer made Zuko snap his head back to her. She was standing there with tears pooling in her eyes and looking completely heartbroken. Thoughts ran through his head as he watched her trying to compose herself.

_Could she feel the same?_

_Could she be in love with me?_

"I better head back to the cottage and help Ling prepare dinner," Katara sniffed as she picked up the basket. She tried to walk by but Zuko grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. She found herself looking into his amber eyes.

"You don't love Aang," Zuko whispered as his hand trailed up her arm.

Katara dropped the basket. "I'm not a prize to be won," she challenged as she forced herself to stare into his eyes. His eyes flickered several emotions including relief, happiness, and…_love?_

"No you're not," Zuko answered as his hand went into her hair. He loved how soft it felt in his hand. "Only a fool would think that you're a prize." He leaned forward and took a sniff. "Why do you smell like roses?" he murmured.

Katara was confused by the question. "I used a rose scented soap."

"No," Zuko said softly. "You always smell like roses."

"That's silly." Katara forced a laugh. "I'm from the South Pole! There are no roses in the South Pole!"

"That's what drives me nuts," Zuko answered. "You smell like roses. I can smell it on everything you touched. Even your mother's necklace had the scent." He lowered his head to her shoulder. She gave a shudder when his nose brushed the material of the shirt. He gave another sniff and made a pleasurable moan. "Spirits, I love that scent." He lifted his head. "It's your scent."

"Zuko."

"Love."

"Stop," Katara pleaded and held up her hand. She saw the surprise and hurt on his face. "Please don't say anything that you don't mean."

Zuko cupped her face and stared into her sapphire eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Katara's hands covered his hands. "Just don't say anything you don't mean." She closed her eyes so she could escape from his penetrating gaze. "I can't handle empty promises."

"This isn't an empty promise, love," Zuko replied and leaned forward. His lips captured hers in a soft kiss. He felt her nails digging into his hands as she returned the kiss. When he released from her lips, he saw that her eyes were closed and tears running down her cheeks. "I love you." He kissed her cheek. "I will always love you." He kissed her other cheek. "I'll never stop loving you." He returned to her lips.

Katara let out a gasp when he returned to her lips. Her hands let go of his and went straight into his hair pulling him closer. Her tongue traced his lower lip and darted into his mouth when he parted them. Zuko's left hand went to her waist and brought her closer to his body, making sure that every curve was pressed against him. His right hand gently fisted into her hair. Tongues dueled with each other until they broke apart for air.

"I love you," Katara whispered. Her fingers left his hair and traced every contour on his face. "I'll never stop loving you." Zuko closed his eyes when her hand traced his scar. "I thought I lost you when…" She stopped talking when her voice started to waver.

Zuko pressed her head into his chest. "I know," he said hoarsely as he rubbed her back. "I thought I lost you." He kissed the top of her head. "I'm not going to lose you," he promised.

Katara rubbed her face into his chest and inhaled his scent. He smelled like fresh soap and the woods. The scent calmed her. She felt alive and it has been a long time she felt that way. She wanted to show him how much he meant to her. "Make love to me," she said with confidence.

_What?_ Zuko took a step back and stared at Katara with wide eyes. Images of the campfire danced through his mind. "Are…" he swallowed. "Are you sure?"

Katara smiled and took a step forward. Her hands rested gently on his chest and she stood on her toes to kiss his nose. "I'm sure."

Zuko looked into her eyes. He saw the love and desire in those eyes but he saw something that he thought he would never see again, confidence. He saw Katara in those blue eyes. He instantly looked around their surroundings. "Here?" he whispered.

"Does it matter where?" Katara laughed when she saw the blush growing on his face. She could not help herself and had to ask the next question. "You had a place in mind?"

_Several places and they didn't involve nature!_ Zuko thought as he continued to stare at Katara. She looked alive, he have not seen her looked like that in a long time. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not going to hurt me."

Zuko looked around again and realized that their surroundings were perfect. Yellow reeds grew tall creating an intimate setting. The green moss under their feet was plush and soft. A lone tree provided shade over a large flat rock and the setting sun turned the sky into various shades of orange, red, and pink. What made it perfect was Katara. She stood in front of him with a soft smile. Her tanned face cast a golden color and her eyes sparkled like the open sea. She was beautiful.

He let out a groan and began kissing her. _I'm a pathetic sack of shit!_

Katara closed her eyes and savored the kiss. Her hands skimmed down his chest and slipped under his shirt. She felt him shiver as her fingers gently touched his stomach feeling each defined muscle. Zuko whimpered when he felt her leaving his lips but let out a groan when her hands grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged it over his head. Warm lips returned to his and tongues began to fight for dominance. He moaned in pleasure when he felt the scratchy cotton shirt rubbed against his chest. He forced himself to pull Katara away. He did not want everything to end before it just got started.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked huskily as she began to trace his chest scar with her tongue.

Zuko swallowed. "Nothing," he answered shakily. His eyes landed on the basket next to her feet. "Just give me a second." He reluctantly removed Katara's arms from his body and grabbed the towel from the basket. He walked away from her and spread the towel on the ground. He sat down and waved her to join him.

Katara was touched by how nervous Zuko was. He sat on towel looking at her with lustful eyes but she knew that if she told him to stop, he will. She smirked; she did not want him to stop. She wanted _him_; she _wanted_ to give herself to him. Steady hands gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head.

Zuko's jaw dropped when Katara took off her shirt. She was not wearing any bindings and his eyes went straight to her breasts. They were firm, full and absolutely beautiful. He took a deep breath as he watched her walked towards him. She kneeled in front of him and kissed him. Something clicked in his mind and he pulled away.

"I don't want to get you pregnant."

Katara smiled and cupped his face. "I won't get pregnant." She continued when she saw the confusion on his face. "Madame Vianne explained that the flush would temporary make me barren. She said it usually last a month but since I had a heavy dosage, it would last longer."

"How long?"

"Two to three months," Katara answered with a shrug. "I won't know until my first bleeding."

Zuko kissed her. "I'm stopping if you show any sign of hesitation," he threaten and then pulled her into his body.

Katara moaned as his mouth attack her neck. Nails dug into his back as he laid her down on the towel. Soft whimpering was heard as his lips trailed down from her neck to her chest. The sweet smell of roses aroused him as his lips nipped and sucked her breasts. Katara wrapped her legs around his hips and he could feel the gentle pull of his pants from her toes. He understood what she wanted; she wanted him naked before her.

He slowly stood up and kicked the flimsy sandals that Mim let him borrow towards the large rock. His fingers hooked around the waistband and gave Katara one final look. She was breathing hard and her eyes were dark with passion. There was no sign of hesitation or fear. He slowly pulled down his pants and he noticed that Katara's eyes followed the movement. They widen for a second and blush appeared across her cheeks.

"You're beautiful," Katara whispered with half lidded eyes.

Zuko never thought he would feel so exposed by a simple comment. He quickly lay on top of her making sure that he did not crush her. His mouth savored the taste of her lips, neck, and chest. He enjoyed the shiver that she gave when his tongue slowly trailed down her stomach to the edge of her pants. He looked up for permission and Katara slowly nodded. Calloused fingers gently hooked around her pants and pulled down. She let out a soft gasp when she felt the cool air brushing her thighs and then a warm breath. Her gasps became moans as Zuko teased her with his mouth, teeth, and tongue. Fingers dug into his scalp and gave a tug to signal him to come up. He slowly kissed his way up her body before he captured her lips.

He heard the sharp intake of breath when he slowly entered her. Fearing that he injured her, Zuko tried to pull out but strong legs wrapped around his waist and draw him in. A moan escaped from his mouth when he was pulled deeper into her. He stilled for a minute, letting her get use to the sensation before he started to thrust. The move was smooth and gentle with Katara matching each thrust. Hands explored every curve of their bodies and appreciations were made by loud moans. Soon it became a frenzy pace. Lips crashed into each other as fingers dug into backs. Zuko lifted Katara's knees which produced a deeper penetration and a louder moan from the young woman.

Katara buried her head into Zuko's neck and let out a scream when her body spasms. Her vision became blurry and she could feel every sensation that Zuko gave. He let out a yell shortly after her when her muscles clenched around him. He pumped into her a few more times before collapsing on top of her. The two lovers laid in a tangle mess of limbs as they tried to regain their breaths. Zuko was the first to move by pulling Katara in his arms and shifted positions; him laying on the towel and her lying on top of him.

"We should think about heading back to the cottage," Katara said in a husky voice as she kissed his chest scar. "I don't want Mim and Ling to worry."

"Mim knows where we are," Zuko replied and kissed the top of her head.

"What if he looks for us?" Katara asked as she stretched her lean body against his.

Zuko let out a groan before answering. "He won't look for us," he smirked.

Katara raised her head up. "How come?"

"Because he owes me," Zuko answered and wrapped a brown curl around his finger. "I've been covering his ass for a long time!"

****

Mim pulled Ling and their daughter closer to his body. The peaceful walk somehow became a tense stroll. He could feel someone was staring at him and his family and he be damn if that intruder was going to interrupt his peace.

Ling looked up and saw that Mim's jaw was clenched. She was raised by a military man and she knew what that look meant. "How many are following us?" she whispered.

"Six," Mim answered as his canary eyes scanned the woods. "No wait, make that seven."

"Seven?" Ling exclaimed and pulled the sling closer to her body. "Do you think they're after the Crown Prince and Katara?"

"Unless you have some explaining to do," Mim dryly joked and pulled his family to a stop. He looked around one last time. "If I feel that this situation is going to go bad, you run. Don't stop and wait for me."

"Mim!"

"I mean it Ling," Mim growled and then raised his voice. "I know you're out there! Come out!"

A soldier slowly walked out of the woods holding a bow. Mim recognized the warrior; it was one of his Yu Yan archers. The archer surprised the couple when he kneeled. "Commander," he said softly. "It is honor to see you again."

"Tell your men to come out," Mim ordered as he held his wife tighter.

"It is only me."

"Right," Mim snorted with amusement. "So the two behind me, the one off to the left, the one off to the right, and the two in the trees are just lost?"

The archer smirked. "You haven't lost your touch."

"Tell your archers to drop their weapons and come out," Mim snarled. "You're scaring my family."

The archer waved his hand and six more archers appeared out of nowhere. They lowered their bows and dropped to their knees. Ling could not help but raise an eyebrow at the scene. "You're right, you _are_ a god."

Mim ignored his wife's comment. "Why are you following me?"

"We're following the Crown Prince and the Master Waterbender. They happened to led us to you."

"I'm highly disappointed," Mim said with disgust. "My best men who have a good man as their leader are following orders from a deranged bastard? Did you forget about the massacre of Norse?"

The archer tensed when Norse was mentioned. "We're not following orders from Admiral Turin. Our orders come from General Iroh."

"Prove it!" Mim snapped.

The archer went into his pocket and pulled something out. He tossed the item to the couple. Ling slowly went down to her knees and picked up the item. Her brow wrinkled as she studied the small clay tile with a white lotus stamped on it. "A Pai Sho tile?" she asked the archer. "I don't understand." She glanced at Mim. "Why does it look familiar?"

Mim kept his eyes focused on the kneeling archer. His hand went to his neck and pulled out a leather cord. Tied around his neck was the white lotus tile. "Your objective?"

"Follow the Admiral's orders."

"Does the General know that Turin wants his nephew dead?"

"Yes," the archer said. "Our orders are to shoot to wound. Make it look believable."

"How far is Turin?"

"Not far."

"Shit," Mim murmured and looked down. "We can't even leave tonight because it's too dangerous." He collected his thoughts and looked up. "I'm taking Prince Zuko and Master Katara to Ronin."

"Ronin doesn't exist!"

"It does," Mim smirked. "The path I'm taking follows along the bluffs."

"Mim!" Ling shouted. "You swore your life to protect the prince!"

"I am," Mim answered and pointed at the archers. "And so have they. Tell Turin that you killed the prince at the bluffs."

"Is that all, Commander?"

"No," Mim answered. "I want one of your men to stay behind and protect my family."

"Very well," the archer said and bowed lower. "When are you leaving?"

"Sunrise," Mim replied.

****

"Admiral!" a solider shouted as he ran through the campsite.

"What?" Turin snarled as he looked up from his map. Colonel Shinu raised his head up and stared at the excited young soldier.

The teenager marched up to them and handed Turin a piece of paper. "Good news, sir."

_Don't tell me that Turin's men killed the prince!_ Shinu thought as he watched the admiral open the note and gave a deadly smile.

"Well this_ is_ good news," Turin smirked and glanced at Shinu. "Actually it's better than the news that your archers have been giving."

"Your men found the prince?" Shinu asked praying that his voice did not show any worry.

"They are now," Turin said as his smirk became a grin. "One of my scouts found a settlement not too far from here."

"A settlement?" Shinu laughed. "How can there be a settlement in the western region?" He paused to think. "You don't mean?"

"They found Ronin," Turin laughed and began clearing his map. "And you know that the traitor and that whore would go there."

"Are we going to attack before they entered Ronin?"

"We could," Turin shrugged as he rubbed his hands. "Or we could just attack Ronin."

Shinu felt his mouth going dry. "We're planning to attack a defenseless city?"

Turin snorted in disgusted. "Defenseless?" he shouted and pounded his hand into the table. "Ronin has always been the enemy to the Fire Nation's cause! They have harbored traitors and spies! Razing it to the ground would be a glorious victory in Lord Ozai's reign!"

"Of course," Shinu stuttered as he stepped back. "If you excuse me, Admiral, I have to send a message to my men to tell them the good news."

"Very well," Turin said with a wave of his hand.

"Do you want me to tell them to forget about the traitor and the whore?"

"No."

Shinu gave Turin one final bow and quickly left the crazed man. He entered his tent and began to pace around. His hand went into his pocket and pulled out the clay white lotus tile. _What can I do?_ He thought as he stared at the Pai Sho piece. _What would be the right thing?_ His eyes rested on his bow and quiver. Putting the tile back into his pocket, Shinu grabbed his weapons and snuck out of his tent. He quietly walked away from the campsite making sure that he was not going to be capture.

The colonel of the mighty Yu Yan archers just became a traitor to Ozai's Fire Nation.


	24. Chapter 24

**Wow....Sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I hit a very strange writer's block. I had the chapter in my mind but I couldn't get it out of my head. In other news, I can't believe it has been a year since I started this story and the end is coming soon!**

**Thank you for the great reviews especially for my first lemon and your patience!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Discliamer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

_She was in her cell for only a few hours before the guards came in and dragged her out. They forced her down the hall towards the throne room. The corridor followed along a large courtyard that was filled with a crowd of people. She could hear the chanting and jeering. She heard a sickening thud and the people erupted with cheer. She turned her head to the direction of the noise._

_She saw a guard holding a familiar looking head. _

_Azula's head._

"_Oh my spirits!" Katara shouted and began to struggle in the guards' firm hold. The guards made their grip tighter._

"_Our lord wants to see you, waterbender," one of the guards sneered. "Maybe you'll get lucky and be burned alive."_

_Katara slowly calmed herself down. She had accepted her fate by letting Zuko go with Appa. She knew that she was going to die and that it would be a slow and painful death. She would not give Ozai the pleasure of being scared._

_The guards dragged her into the throne room and forced her to her knees. The wall of flames burned red and then to an orange. She held her gaze at the flames because she knew that Ozai was sitting behind them._

"_The waterbender my lord," the guard said with a bow._

"_Bring her to her feet," Ozai ordered. His voice sounded evil._

_Katara bit back a yelp when the guards yanked her to her feet. The wall of flames died down and Ozai walked towards her. His gold eyes burned with hate as he stared at her. Katara returned the gesture and raised her head up. She was going to show him that she was better than him._

"_The Avatar's whore," Ozai sneered and his lip curled in disgust. Katara narrowed her eyes at the comment. She was no one's whore. "It's a pleasure to meet you."_

"_The feeling is not mutual," Katara snarled and glared at Ozai._

"_A pity," Ozai remarked and wrapped a strand of hair around his finger. She forced the bile that was rising in her throat down. The only person that did that was Zuko and she will be damned if anyone else did that. "You should be grateful that you're alive. Actually you should be thanking me." He smiled when he said that. _

"_Tell your guards to let me go and I'll show you my thanks," Katara challenged. Ozai let out a deep laugh. His laugh was scratchy and harsh unlike Zuko's which was smooth and velvety._

"_I heard what you did to my captain of the Southern Raiders," Ozai laughed. "You think that I'm that stupid in letting you go so you can play with my blood?"_

"_A girl can only hope," Katara sneered. Ozai let out another laugh and quickly ended it. His face became unreadable except for his gold eyes. There was an evil glint in them._

"_I take it that you saw Princess Azula."_

"_You're a monster!" Katara shouted as she felt the hatred brewing in her. "That was your daughter! She was your family!"_

"_I HAVE NO FAMILY!" Ozai shouted and slapped Katara across the face. Her head snapped to the right by the force of the hit. He regained composure and stepped closer to her. His hot breath burned her ear. "I have plans for you."_

"_What, cutting my head off? Flogging me in public? Dragging my body through the Capitol?" Katara suggested sarcastically. She could feel the fear rising in her._

"_Entertainment," Ozai said chillingly. His hand roughly grabbed her breast. Katara flinched as she tried to pull away from his touch but the guards held her in place. His fingers brushed across her nipple and cruelly twisted it. She gasped in pain but refused to scream. "I heard a rumor that water savages are wild in bed."_

"_Go fuck yourself!" Katara yelled and spit in Ozai's face. She could hear Toph cheering in her mind. _

_Ozai wiped the spit off of his face. His hand swung through the air and slapped Katara's face hard. The sound echoed throughout the throne room followed by her cry. He was breathing hard when he grabbed her face with his hand._

"_You filthy little savage!" Ozai screamed into her face. "You have no idea how powerless you are and how powerful I am!" His hand dropped from her face. "Take her to her cell!" he ordered the guards. "Make sure she has no food or drink. She will change her mind!"_

"_No!" Katara screamed as she was dragged away from Ozai. She tried again to twist her body out of the guards' grasp. "I would rather die!"_

* * * *

A scream woke Zuko from his deep sleep. His heart was beating erratically and his blood was pounding in his head. He tried to sit up but it felt like his body was being weighed down. The urge to go back to sleep was overpowering and before he closed his eyes, he stared at the glowing disc that was the moon.

_A full moon!_ His mind screamed as he fought the urge to sleep. He struggled to sit up but the weighted sensation kept holding him down.

"_I would rather die!_"

Zuko heard the hoarse whisper through his aching head. He forced his head to twist towards the voice and to his horror he saw Katara sitting up with her hands twisted into claws. The claws twitched and the blood pounded faster in his head. "I would rather die!" she screamed.

"Katara," Zuko gasped as he forced his hand towards her. He was shock by the coldness of her skin when his hand rested on her arm. "Katara," he repeated again. "Please wake up."

Her hands finally dropped and the weighted feeling dissipated. He bolted upright and pulled her into his arms. She started to struggle and began to whimper. He captured her wrists when she began to scratch him. "Katara!" he shouted as he looked into her eyes. He could not tell if her eyes were blue or black but he knew they were unfocused.

"Don't touch me!" Katara yelled as she struggled in his grasp. "I'm not yours! You can't have me!"

He knew she was referring to Ozai but he still felt his heart breaking at her words. He felt responsible for putting her in this situation. Guilt began to grow as he started to regret having sex with her. _It was too soon. I'm no better than him._

"Zuko!" Katara cried out as she continued to struggle. "Zuko, please help me!"

"Love!" Zuko yelled as he shook her. "It's me!"

Wild eyes began to focus and Katara slowly woke up from her nightmare. She blinked a couple of times until she was able to see Zuko sitting in front of her. The look of his face was pure terror as he slowly removed his grip around her wrists. A cold shiver consumed her as the world returned to her. An ear piercing shriek echoed in her ears and it dawned on her that it was an infant crying. The poor child sounded frightened. "Oh spirits!" she wailed as she crumbled into his arms. "I did something horrible, didn't I?"

The firebender opened his mouth but someone was pounding on the door. "Zuko!" Mim yelled through the door. "Are you and Katara okay?"

Zuko kissed her forehead before leaving the bed. She let out a whimper and reached out to him. "Let me talk to Mim," he whispered. "I'll come back to you soon."

He rushed to the door and quickly opened it. His panicked looking friend was standing there and he knew that Mim and his family had experienced the bloodbending. Zuko pushed Mim out of the way before shutting the door and dragged his second in command down the hall and out the main entrance.

Once outside, Mim pulled his arm out of Zuko's grasp and gave him a dirty look. "What the hell is going on?"

"A full moon," Zuko answered as if that will explain everything. "Is your family okay?"

"Ling and Zora are scared shitless!" Mim hissed as he began to pace around. "Zuko, what is going on? I woke up and I couldn't move out of bed! I thought my heart was going to explode! My daughter was screaming at the top of her lungs! You can't tell me that the full moon did this!"

Zuko took a deep breath. He promised Katara that he would never tell anyone about her ability but his friend had the right to know. "Remember the story about the prisoner that controlled the prison guards by moving her hands?"

"A complete myth," Mim snapped as he ran his hand through his unruly hair.

"So was Ronin."

Mim stared at Zuko with wide canary yellow eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"The prisoner was a waterbender," Zuko answered. "She was able to escape by controlling the blood in the guards. Unfortunately Katara was forced to learn this technique."

"Katara did this?" Mim whispered in shock. He could not suppress the shiver. "She can control our blood?"

"Only during the full moon," Zuko reassured. "She doesn't do it because she feels like a monster. I guess her nightmares triggered the reaction." He stared at his friend. "Mim, she would never hurt your family."

"Shit Zuko," Mim said with a smirk. "You sure know how to pick 'em." He saw the frown on his friend's face. "What's the matter?"

Zuko hung his head down. "I caused this."

"Don't start," Mim grumbled as he pointed at him. "Don't start blaming yourself."

"I shouldn't have slept with her!" Zuko snapped.

"Well, that explains the stupid smile of your face before dinner," Mim joked and crossed his arms.

"I really don't want to hear your jokes!"

"Tough," Mim said and approached Zuko. He rested his hand on the firebender's shoulder. "I only known Katara for about twenty four hours and I can tell you this; she was happy, truly happy. You could see it in her eyes and the room just lit up with her in it."

Zuko turned his head towards Mim. "I caused her pain," he protested. "I reminded her of Ozai."

"If that was true," Mim reassured and dropped his hand. "Then she would have rejected you a long time ago."

Zuko felt defeated. "Then what can I do?"

Mim let out a groan. "Seriously Zuko?" he grumbled. "Do I have to spell it out for you?" He let out another groan when the banished prince gave him a dirty look. "You love her and protect her! Always be there for her even through the worst of times! Always love her! Never let her go!"

Zuko let out an unsteady breath and gave a shaky smile. "I did promise her that I would always protect her."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Mim smiled and punched his friend's arm.

Zuko felt his guilt easing up as they entered the cottage. The two friends walked back to the guest bedroom and saw Ling walking out. She gave the two men a smile and wiped her eyes. Mim wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed the top of her head. Ling sighed and buried her head into his chest.

"Is Katara okay?" Zuko asked as he watched the couple. He felt the desire to hold Katara in his arms.

"She's fine," Ling answered as she raised her head. "She's scared but I was able to calm her down."

He felt the guilt brewing in him again. "Ling," Zuko said. "I'm sorry about what happened."

Ling shook her head. "I understand," she reassured. "Katara is much stronger than she lets on. If I went what she went through, I would've caused much more damage." She glanced at her husband and Zuko. "Get some sleep, both of you. Sunrise is in a couple of hours."

Zuko bid goodnight to the couple and entered the bedroom. He stopped walking when he saw Katara sitting on the bed. Her knees were tucked under her chin and she was rocking. He could hear her sniffling. "Love?" he whispered as he started to move again.

She raised her head up when she felt the bed dipped from Zuko's weight. "I'm fine," Katara whispered. She leaned into the touch when he began wiping her tears away. The coolness of his skin calmed her.

"No you're not," Zuko challenged as he continued to wipe her eyes. He thought about what Mim told him. He _can_ protect her and love her. He _will_ always be there for her. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I...I don't know if I can do this," Katara whimpered as she let herself be drawn into his arms. "Why can't I just forget?"

Zuko rubbed her back. "Remember what I said at the inn after we sold the hairpin?" He felt her nodding into his chest. "I meant every word. You're not going to be alone. I'll be here helping you go through this."

Katara pushed away and looked at him with wide eyes. "What about after you become Fire Lord?" she asked. "You can't be there for me and I don't think I can stay at the Palace without having something reminding me of Ozai."

He had those same thoughts after he rescued her. Those thoughts danced through his mind every time she curled up next to him whimpering at the demons in her mind. "I'll ban anything that gives you pain," Zuko answered as he took her hand. "I'll even remodel the Palace, so you will never be scared again." He kissed her hand.

Katara blinked her eyes as she processed his words. "You're willing to do that for me?" She felt a smile growing on her face. "You want me to be with you?"

"Katara, I'm practically asking you to be my wife," Zuko said with a smile. He saw her eyes widening even more. "I want you to be at my side."

"Oh," Katara stuttered as she looked down and blushed. "I…I don't think I'm ready to be married."

The firebender gave a grin and cupped her cheek. "I'm just telling you what I'm going to do," he said. "I'll propose when you're ready."

"When will that be?"

Zuko leaned in and gave her a soft chaste kiss. "When you tell me," he whispered as he let go of her lips. Katara smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He welcomed the lovely intrusion of her tongue as he let her make the kiss go deeper.

* * * *

It was mid afternoon when Appa flew close to the airship. With a calculated jump, Aang leapt from the beast and landed on the gangplank with grace that only an airbender could produce. He quickly turned around when he heard the sound of boots clicking towards him.

"Avatar," Cree greeted with a frown. "I'm surprise you're here. According to the General, you weren't coming back."

Aang held back the scowl that was forming on his face. "I need to talk to Sokka and Toph."

Cree stared at the young airbender and let out a sigh. "This way," he said and waved at Aang to follow him. "They are in the map room planning the final invasion."

Aang felt the cold shiver racing down his spine. He pushed back all the images that Avatar Roku showed him and reluctantly followed the young captain. The two walked down the gangplank in an uncomfortable silence until Cree stopped at a metal door. He gave the Avatar a disapproving look before opening the door and let the young airbender in. Aang thanked the young man and stepped through the door.

In the center of the room was a large table covered by a larger map of the Fire Nation. Sokka was staring intently at the positions of pawns surrounding an area that Aang had to guess was the Fire Nation Capitol. Toph was sitting in her chair with her feet propped up on the table. The look on her face showed boredom. Aang felt the claustrophobia closing in on him when Cree slammed the door behind him.

Sokka snapped his head up at the noise and curled his nose up when he saw Aang. "Why are you here?" he snarled.

"Snoozles," Toph said as she lowered her feet. "Twinkle Toes said that he'll return before the invasion."

"And I told him to leave," Sokka snapped at the blind earthbender. He glared at Aang. "We don't want your help."

"General," Cree spoke out. "We need the Avatar's help rather you like it or not."

"Sokka," Aang pleaded as he stepped up to the table. "I understand that you're angry at me. I know I deserve it but I have some information that you need to hear."

The Water Tribe warrior stared at the young airbender with disdain. He had not forgiven Aang for his selfishness over his sister and he did not know when he would be able to forgive him. He knew he could not be angry at the boy forever because Aang was still his friend.

Sokka gave a defeated sigh. "What do you know?"

"Avatar Roku showed me some things that are happening right now."

"What do you mean, right now?" Toph asked as she sat up in her chair.

"Ozai set up a trebuchet at the Palace," Aang said and flinched when Cree cursed.

"A _what?_" Sokka asked clearly confused.

"A catapult," Cree explained. "The Fire Lord is going to take down the airship."

"How accurate is it?" Toph asked sounding concern.

Cree placed his hand on her shoulder. "Very accurate."

The room was silent for a few minutes until Sokka pushed his chair away from the table. Everyone cringed when the sound of metal grinded against metal. "I'll be back," he said and walked out of the room.

Cree quickly followed the Water Tribe warrior down the hall. The young man grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. "Where are you going, General?"

"I'm going to the weapon's room," Sokka answered and pulled his arm out of Cree's grasp. "I have a crazy idea."

"Your idea is not going to work."

"Why is that?"

Cree gave a deadly smile. "I have a crazier idea." He looked down the opposite direction of the hall. "And it involves the helm."

* * * *

"There's Ronin," Mim said as he pointed to the town that was settled in a low area of the bluffs. "We'll be able to reach it by dinner." It was the only words that were spoken since they left the tiny cottage at sunrise.

Katara just nodded and continued to follow Mim and Zuko. She was still upset that she attacked everyone in the house because she had a nightmare. She should have been aware of the full moon before she went to sleep but she was so happily exhausted over the lovemaking that she did not care. She remembered the nightmare that she had. She was in Ozai's throne room. He had this evil gleam in his eyes as they roamed over her body. It was not the worst nightmare she had experience since the drug wore off but it was the scariest. That meeting in the throne room started the horror she endured for two months before Zuko rescued her.

_Don't think about it,_ Katara thought to herself. _Don't you dare think about it! Think of something else! Something that makes you happy!_

Her cheeks instantly flushed when she thought about Zuko. He had told her that he loved her and then they made love. Actually the couple had sex a few more times before they returned to the cottage for dinner and then afterwards before they fell asleep. For the first time in her life, Katara found where she belonged and she was determined to fight her demons to keep it.

"He told me what happened during a full moon."

Katara jumped when Mim's soft voice broke through her thoughts. She looked at the taller firebender and gave a sad frown. "I figured he would tell you," she whispered making sure that Zuko did not hear her. "You had the right to know what happened last night. I'm sorry for what I did."

"Don't apologize," Mim said and gave her a friendly punch in the arm. The action made her think of Toph. "Zuko was blaming himself for giving you the nightmare."

Katara was stunned. "Why?"

"He thinks that he reminds you of Ozai."

"That's stupid!"

"That's what I told him," Mim said and suddenly stopped. Katara stopped walking and raised an eyebrow at him. "Zuko?"

Zuko stopped walking and scanned the sparse little forest near them. "I felt it."

"Felt what?" Katara asked as she watched Zuko rushing towards her.

"Vibrations," Mim answered as he looked over his shoulder. It appeared that he was looking for something that was behind him.

"Of what?"

"Hopefully nothing," Zuko mumbled as he began twitching his fingers. He could feel the anticipation of a battle brewing. He prayed to the spirits that it was nothing.

Katara could now feel the ground vibrating. She clutched onto Zuko's arm as she stared at the direction the vibrations were coming from. "It feels like a group of men are marching."

"That's what we're afraid of," Mim muttered and lit his hands on fire. He knew it was not his archers because they were in the trees and it felt like a battalion was coming towards them.

The sparse little forest looked liked it split open when a large group of soldiers burst through. Leading the small battalion was the man that had been hunting them for a month. Admiral Turin saw them and gave a deadly grin. He raised his hand in the air and the battalion stopped.

"Katara," Zuko growled as he pushed her behind him. "Stay right behind us." His pulled his dual swords out and the blades erupted into flames. The only response he got was her clutching his tunic.

She looked at their surroundings and finally understood Sokka's favorite saying; _stuck between a rock and a hard place._ Only a few feet away was the edge of the bluff. She could hear the sound of seawater crashing against the rocks and to her relief she could feel the raging pulse of the ocean. In front of her was the only path that led to Ronin and it was block by Turin's men.

"This must be my lucky day," Turin smiled as he waved his men to prepare to attack. The trio took a step back when the soldiers went into a firebending position. "Not only do we get the Avatar's whore." He ignored the snarl that came from Zuko's mouth. "We also get to sack Ronin and kill the traitor prince and his exiled commander!" He leered at Katara. "Don't worry,_ my Prince_, I'll let you watch while I have a taste of the prize."

"Fuck you!" Zuko shouted.

Katara narrowed her eyes and she felt the water rising towards her. Her vision was starting to become red as she flexed her fingers. Zuko felt her fingers flexing on his back and took a step away from her. Mim raised his eyebrow at the banished prince when he saw him stepping away. He glanced at Katara and quickly understood why. Never in his military career has he seen eyes that black.

Turin was completely oblivious to what was happening with Katara. He only saw victory in this conflict. "Kill the traitors!" he ordered with a snap of his fingers. "Capture the whore!"

Mim thrust his flaming hand up when Turin ordered his men to attack. "Archers!" he yelled and dropped his arm. "Attack!"

"Archers?" Zuko asked and prepared for the attack.

Katara was the first to attack. She raised her right hand in the air and swung her left arm in a wide arch. A wave of water came over the bluff and rolled towards the battalion. The soldiers quickly reacted by creating a wall of flames. The water hissed when it hit the fire and erupted into steam. The high pitch sound of arrows filled the air as the projectiles penetrated the cloud of moisture. Screams, moans, and sickening thuds were heard as the arrows imbedded themselves into something. A couple of fireballs erupted through the steam cloud and a company of soldiers burst through. Mim and Zuko charged.

Zuko swung his blades around and cut down two soldiers with precision grace. He deflected a blast of fire with his swords before hitting one firebender with the back of the hilt. Realizing that it would be dangerous to fight in close combat with his swords, he slid them back into the scabbard and threw a punch at the next soldier. Mim gave a grunt of approval as he threw a firebender over his shoulder.

Katara closed her right hand into a fist and turned the dissipating steam into sharp projectiles. She punched the air and the icy shards were fired. The icicles were instantly melted away by the incoming surge of firebenders. She raised her hands again and the seawater swirled around her into the familiar octopus formation. Each tentacle snapped at the approaching soldiers.

An arrow zipped past Zuko's shoulder and impaled itself into a soldier's chest. The surprised man was dead before he hit the ground. Zuko spun on his heels and saw six Yu Yan archers standing behind Katara with their bows drawn. Mim was barking orders to one archer that was close to him.

Turin's face scrunched up in pure rage. "Traitors!" he screamed. "I'll make sure that you, Colonel Shinu, and your families would burn slowly!"

Zuko quickly retreated back to Katara, Mim, and the archers. He raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Care to explain?"

"Later," Mim snapped and threw a fireball at the approaching soldiers. "Any ideas?"

"None at the moment," Zuko retorted and brought up a wall of flames to stop a group of fireballs. He glanced at Katara. "How are you doing?"

"I can't keep this up!" Katara shouted as she whipped a tentacle to a group of soldiers. "We need to get out of here!"

"We'll hold them back, my Prince," one of the archers said as he fired his arrow.

"And let you die?" Zuko scoffed as he threw a fireball. "Absolutely not!"

"We swore to protect you and Master Katara."

"About that," Zuko snorted as he glared at the archer. "You better explain why you attacked us earlier!"

Katara let out a shriek and an ice wall appeared. Fireballs hissed when they hit the wall and she quickly pulled the steam back into the ice structure. Zuko saw the fatigue on her face and the weariness of her body. She did not have enough strength to keep on fighting. They needed to get out of here, now.

Mim glanced at the edge of the bluff before turning his attention back to his friend. Zuko gulped when he saw the impish grin. "Remember the time we were the Blue and Black Spirits?"

Zuko winced when Katara let out a gasp. "You _were_ the Blue Spirit?"

"He didn't tell you?" Mim exclaimed. "He was the best! Drove the Earth Kingdom nuts and pissed off Zhao any chance he got! I'll tell you some stories later."

"Please do," Katara answered through gritted teeth.

"Mim," Zuko warned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's your spirit forsaken idea?"

"Naukten."

Zuko let out a groan.

"Naukten?" an archer asked. "Wasn't Naukten a failed mission?"

"Failed?" Mim laughed as he pounded Zuko's back. "It failed epically!"

Panic was rising in Katara. "What happened in Naukten?" she squeaked.

"You were the one that decided to jump!" Zuko growled as he glared at his friend. "You didn't look before you leap!"

"We lived, didn't we?" Mim challenged and pointed at the bluff. "This time, we all know what's at the bottom!"

"Yeah, it's called our death!" Zuko yelled.

Katara was focused on keeping the ice wall standing and never saw Mim pointing at the edge of the bluff. "What's at the bottom?"

"It's either that or letting Turin kill us!"

Zuko let out a defeated sigh. He knew that Mim was right. He glanced at Katara again and he knew she could not keep the wall up. It was a matter of seconds before she lost her strength and Turin's men were coming closer. "All right," he muttered. "We run at the count of three. One."

"What's happening at three?" Katara shrieked.

"Two."

"What's happening at three?"

"Three!"

"What's happening…HEY!" Katara yelled as Zuko grabbed her hand and started to drag her.

"Get them!" Turing shouted.

Katara felt the intense heat of the flames approaching her back. Her eyes widen as she watched Mim and the archers ran towards the bluff. _They can't be serious!_ She let out a gasp as they jumped over the edge and disappeared. Zuko squeezed her hand and began to run faster. She felt her feet leaving the ground and was plummeting towards the ocean. Zuko pulled her close to his body and fired one more fireball in the air. She clutched onto his tunic and watched in fear as the water came closer to them.

Her body screamed in pain when she hit the water and quickly went under.


	25. Chapter 25

**Guess who I brought back into the story! Thanks for the great reviews!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Her lungs were screaming for oxygen as she fought her way to the surface. Cool air slammed into her face as she struggled to stay afloat. Using her remaining energy, she raised her hand up and created a large ice floe underneath her. She rolled onto her back as she gasped for air. She barely felt the group that was struggling to get on the ice. She stared at the bluffs above her head.

_I can't believe I jumped off of that!_

Mim's voice broke through the heavy panting of the group. "Where's Zuko?"

Katara slowly sat up and looked around. She saw the archers and Mim but she did not see the banished prince. "I don't know," she said as her eyes scanned the water. "We must have separated when we splashed into the water."

_Please don't die on me!_

"Zuko!" Mim shouted and dived into the water. He disappeared for a few seconds and then reappeared. "I don't see him!"

"Over there!" an archer yelled out as he pointed to a series of bubbles.

Zuko broke through the surface gasping for air. He heard a shout before he went under. His body was too tired to move and he was sinking deeper into the water. He felt someone grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him up. His head burst through the surface and he took a deep gulping breath.

"Got him!" Mim shouted. He wrapped his arm around his friend's chest and began swimming towards the ice floe. "You're fucking heavy!" he said through gritted teeth. Two archers swam towards him and he happily accepted the help. They swam back to the ice and the rest of the archers pulled Zuko out of the water first. Mim was pulled up next. The firebender glanced at his friend as he tried to regain his breath. "I thought you hated dramatics!"

Zuko managed a weak smile. "I had to lose my swords," he said. "They were weighing me down."

"Commander," an archer said as he looked up towards the bluff. Turin's men were not to be seen. "I have to say this was a brilliant plan. I would never consider this even though we have Master Katara."

Mim gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, about that," he said. "I forgot about Katara."

The archer gave him a dumbfounded look. "You forgot?" he said slowly. Mim just nodded his head. "You simply forgot?"

"Just drop it," Zuko ordered as he stared at Katara. Her hair was matted to her face and she had a huge grin. He saw the relief in her eyes and he felt the same. He was happy that both of them were alive. "We're alive. Now we need to get to Ronin and tell them about the invasion."

"My prince!" a second archer yelled out. He pointed towards the port city. "There appears to be something coming this way! It's moving pretty fast!"

"Waterbenders," Mim explained as he looked towards the fast moving dot. "Some of the fishermen are waterbenders. They must have seen our interpretation of the swan-goose dive."

Katara relaxed at the news. "Thank goodness," she muttered as she collapsed on the ice floe. "I don't have enough energy to make this thing move."

Three small boats arrived to the ice floe in a matter of minutes. Waterbenders were standing at the stern of the boat with their arms raised while the fishermen controlled the bow. One boat docked near the floe and the fisherman gave Mim a huge smile.

"Hey Mim!" the fisherman said and offered his hand. "I heard you and your friends were going to be in town today! Just wasn't expecting you to come this way."

Mim raised an eyebrow at the fisherman. "How do you know we were coming?"

"Some colonel told us," the fisherman said. "He also told us that some bastard wants to invade our town." His green eyes landed on Katara. "Well, hello there!"

"She's spoken for," Zuko growled.

The fisherman shrugged. "Figures." He stared at the banished prince. All amusement was gone from his face. "Our leader wants to talk to you, Prince Zuko."

* * * *

Shinu did not have a chance to say a word when he was slammed into the wall. His hands went straight to his throat as he tried to pry the cold hand off. He glanced over his attacker's shoulder and hoping that he would get help. Instead he saw two people that looked very disinterested. The young woman had the audacity to check her nails! Gold eyes went back to his attacker. A cold shiver went through him as he stared into the angry amber eyes. He was not seeing the son of Agni. He was seeing the devil himself.

"_You better start explaining, Colonel_," Zuko hissed in a low voice. His hand went tighter around the throat. "_Why were you following the orders of a maniac?_"

Mim rested his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Shinu can't explain if you're taking away his air supply." His voice sounded bored like this had happened before.

Zuko let out a snarl and released Shinu. The colonel slid down the wall gasping for air. "Please Prince Zuko!" he gasped. "We were following your uncle's orders! He wanted us to follow Turin's orders!"

"He's telling the truth, Zuko," Mim said as he glanced at Shinu. "My archers told me the same thing. The Yu Yan had always supported you."

"I need proof!" Zuko spat.

Shinu nodded and thrust his hand into his pocket. He quickly pulled out his hand and showed the object to Zuko. Katara made a loud gasp when she recognized the object. "The tile of the White Lotus," Shinu said and handed it to Zuko. "I'm a member and so are my men."

Zuko stared at the Pai Sho piece in shock. He heard Mim cleared his throat and turned around. His friend exposed the leather cord that was around his neck from his shirt. At the end of the cord was the white lotus tile. "Like I said, he's telling the truth."

Katara blinked at the tile. "Who else is a member of the Order of the White Lotus?"

"About half this town," a voice said behind them. There was a loud laugh. "You weren't kidding about not being happy, _Lee_."

* * * *

Basha could not stop laughing.

The look on the banished prince's face was priceless in his mind. For a moment, he thought that the young man would attack him but Zuko just stood there with a dumbstruck look on his face. The banished prince would open his mouth to speak but no sound came out. The range of emotions on his face went from rage to confusion.

"Relax, Prince Zuko," Basha said. He waved to the young man to sit down at a nearby table. Zuko numbly nodded his head and sat down. "I take it that you have a lot of questions," he said as he sat down. He propped his feet up on the table.

Zuko finally found his voice. "I just jumped off a bluff," he said as he rubbed his temples. "I'm not in the mood for questions, just tell me."

"The grandmaster did say that you're impatient," Basha laughed. "As you can tell, I'm the leader of this town."

"I thought you were a merchant."

Basha gave a nonchalant shrug. "I smuggle goods once in awhile." He raised an eyebrow at the banished prince. "News doesn't travel to Ronin and to survive, we need information." He glanced over his shoulder when the door opened and three men entered. "Prince Zuko, I would like to introduce my highest ranking officers of Ronin; Tomi, Fudo, and Adar."

"You have a militia?" Mim asked sounding impressed. "I never knew!"

"You think this town would be undefended?" Basha laughed. "Every day I have to worry about the Fire Nation attacking."

"I was the former commander of the Fire Nation army!"

"That's why I didn't ask you," Basha said. "You were an exile. Exiles do the craziest things in hope that they can return to their homes. Plus your wife scares the shit out of me." He spread his hands in a gesture of peace. "Please don't be offended." He turned to one of the men. "Fudo, was the colonel's information true?"

"Yes sir," Fudo answered. Shinu snorted in disdain. "The information that the colonel gave were true. The admiral's battalion is camped at the outskirts of town."

"The sun is setting," Zuko said as he glanced out of the window. "Turin won't attack tonight."

"What makes you think that?" the man that was introduced as Adar sneered.

"Turin would want the full strength of the sun," Zuko simply said. "I won't be surprise if Turin would send some scouts. Basha, I believe you should set up a small patrol just in case. I would like to add a couple of archers to the patrol."

"You can't order our leader around, bastard!" Adar shouted.

"Don't insult the future Fire Lord, peasant!" Shinu shouted back.

"Enough!" Basha yelled. "We're lucky to have the greatest military mind in the Fire Nation helping us!" He turned his attention to back to Zuko. "I accept your advice. Would you like some ale?" He gave a smug smile. "Or are you still on a mission?"

Zuko lounged in the chair and gave a smug smirk. "I would like some ale."

Basha let out a hoot of laughter. "Tomi, pints for everyone and get a map!" The laughter died when his voice became serious. "We have a lot of planning to do."

* * * *

Katara was impressed.

She raised an eyebrow when Basha mentioned that Zuko was the greatest military mind in the Fire Nation. The Zuko she knew was always guessing himself and acting before taking the time to think. The Zuko that was standing over the table giving orders was amazing. Using the limited resources that the town had, he was able to create a strong defensive hold for Turin's battalion. He ordered that the people that were too young or too old to fight to go into hiding. Everything he did was to protect the people of Ronin and to make sure that lost of life was very minimal. She saw the evil glint in his eyes when he announced that he was going to deal with Turin alone. A cold shiver went through her after the announcement.

For the first time since meeting Zuko, she was with seeing the _real_ Prince of the Fire Nation and she felt completely safe.

She picked up the pint and took a sip. The wheat and barley taste made her cringed and quickly lowered the glass. She could never understand why men prefer to drink ale. She preferred the complex taste of wine. She was never a much of drinker during her travels but she could not wait to open up a bottle of merlot when this war was finally over. In her mind, she deserved that bottle.

"Amazing," Basha said as he rubbed his chin. "I've heard stories about your talent but I never thought I would ever witness it." He raised his head when a man entered the room. "How was the patrol, Tomi?"

"Nothing to report, sir," Tomi answered and sat down. "Fudo just gave word that all the people that are unable to fight are safely hidden in the caves."

"Good," Basha answered. "Is the boat ready?"

"Yes sir."

Katara's ears perked up. "What boat?"

"I figured that I will honor Prince Zuko's objective," Basha explained. "You're leaving the Fire Nation."

"Absolutely not!" Katara shouted as she stood up. "I'm fighting."

"You're going on the boat!" Zuko yelled. "You need to leave!"

"And let you die!" Katara shrilled. "You can go fuck yourself on that!"

"Such language from a beautiful woman," Basha said with a smile. It was obvious that he was enjoying the fight. "You're not going to win this argument, Prince Zuko. If Master Katara wants to fight, then let her fight."

Zuko took a deep breath to calm himself. "I would feel comfortable if you left."

Katara crossed her arms. "Not. Going. To. Happen," she snarled through clenched teeth.

"Okay, no boat," Mim said in hope that the disagreement would end. He saw the ale bubbling and he did not want to deal with broken glass. "I think it might be a good idea for her to stay. The waterbenders would feel comfortable taking orders from a master waterbender than the banished prince of the Fire Nation."

"I agree," Basha answered. Zuko let out a huge sigh and nodded his head in defeat. Katara gave a big grin. "Since that's cleared, let's talk about the future of Ronin."

Zuko did not miss a beat. "I would declare Ronin as a sovereign state," he said. "This town survived without the aid of the Fire Nation for a hundred years. The only thing I would ask that we would establish trade."

Basha ignored the disgusted snort that Adar made. "On two conditions," he said. "One, there will be a representative in your court. Two, full pardons for everyone."

Zuko glanced at Mim. His friend perked up when he heard about the pardons. "Very well," he said and extended his hand. "The Fire Nation would be honored to have Ronin as an ally."

Basha shook the hand. "Actually, Ronin is honored to have the Fire Lord's support."

"Bullshit!" Adar shouted and pointed at Zuko. "You're no better than your family! Once this war is over, you're just going to claim Ronin as your own!"

"Adar!" Basha exclaimed.

"Just surrender them to Admiral Turin, sir!" Adar yelled. "I'm sure the good admiral would show us mercy!"

"Turin wants to destroy this town!" Mim shouted as he clenched his fists. "He doesn't believe in mercy! I'm sure you're familiar with the massacre of Norse!"

Adar snorted. "I refuse to take orders from a deformed banished bastard!"

A sickening sound was heard before the high pitch scream. Everyone twisted their heads to the sound and saw Adar against the wall with a large icicle impaled into his shoulder. The man let of a painful cry as he tried to remove the object from his shoulder. The icicle refused to budge.

Katara stood behind the table in a waterbending position. Her blue eyes were a dangerous black.

Adar's eyes burned with hate. "You fucking slut!"

Zuko moved towards Adar with an amazing speed. He slammed his hand into the icicle, making the object move deeper into his shoulder. "You're lucky that she spared your life!" he snarled. A hissing sound was heard as the icicle melted. Adar let out a moan and fell to the ground. "Next time, you won't be lucky."

He turned away from the body and gave a traditional Fire Nation bow to Basha. "I suggest we should rest. We need all of our strength."

Basha returned the bow. "I apologize for Adar's rudeness. He lost a lot of family members under your grandfather's reign."

"Can we trust him?" Katara asked coldly as she stared at the whimpering man.

Basha glared at Adar. "I'll make sure." He smiled at the couple. "Get some rest." Zuko took Katara's arm and they both left the room.

Tomi was able to move once he gotten over his shock. He went to Adar and checked the wound. "I don't see any damage," he said. "You'll be able to move your shoulder once it heals." He looked at the group of men. "I didn't see her move! She had better aim than the mighty Yu Yan!" Shinu grunted in approval.

"You're a stupid man for insulting the future Fire Lord!" Basha hissed. "I should kill you myself!"

"Who does he think he is?" Adar responded with a sneer. "He acted like I just insulted the Fire Lady!"

Mim pushed himself up from the chair and signaled Shinu to follow him. He gave Adar a disgusted look as he walked by. Once he made it to the door, he looked over his shoulder towards the injured man.

"You did insult the Fire Lady."

* * * *

"What's going on?" Toph asked as she crouched behind a large boulder with Sokka. "It feels like I'm missing something important."

Sokka flicked a praying mantis-beetle off from his shoulder. "I told you the plan," he whispered as he looked over the boulder. He smiled when he saw a weak flame that was hundred yards away. "We're leading the left flank, Cree is leading the right flank, and Aang is coming in the center to take on Lord Fire Pants."

"Yet," Toph pressed on. "It feels like you're lying."

"You're overreacting," Sokka said with a shaky voice. "Why would I lie?"

Toph crossed her arms. "You tell me."

Sokka cleared his throat and continued to look over the boulder. "It looks like we have everything lined up." He gave an uneasy smile to the blind earthbender. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

A frown appeared on the earthbender's face. "Why don't we attack now?" she asked. "Everyone knows that firebender's are the weakest during the night. It will be easy to overtake them."

"Yeah," Sokka said as he tried to scoot away from Toph. "But then we won't have the element of surprise."

An eyebrow rose up. "What's more surprising than attacking at night?"

Sokka coughed. "An airship?" It was not supposed to be a question.

Fear hit Toph. "Where's Cappie?" she demanded.

"Like I said," Sokka said as he waved his hand. "He's leading the left flank."

"I thought you said he was leading the right flank."

_Shit!_ Sokka let out a defeated sigh. "It was his idea."

Toph sat up and grabbed his ears. "Where _is_ he?" she growled.

Sokka yelped as she tugged on his ears. "He's on the airship," he said weakly.

Toph let out a silent scream and pushed the Water Tribe warrior away. The fear became a panic as she tried to calm her racing heart. She furiously rubbed her eyes as she tried to stop the tears from spilling. She finally understood the emotions that Katara and Zuko went through during the war.

She knew what a broken heart felt like.

Sokka looked at the blind earthbender with concern. He thought he saw fear in her when she was dangling from the airship but now he was seeing true fear. Shame flooded him as he watched his friend try to struggle with her emotions. _If I only knew how much she cared for him._ Anger quickly filled him. _That bastard should have known how much she cared for him!_

"I'm sorry, Toph."

"_Why?_" Toph whispered. She removed her hands and stared at the water tribe warrior. Sokka held in his breath. Her sightless dull jade eyes were a brilliant green. "Why are you letting him do this?"

"It's our only option," Sokka whispered. "He knows that his chance of survival is very slim."

"He wants to die!" Toph spat.

Sokka gave his friend a hug. "He's doing it so you can live."


	26. Chapter 26

**For my Cree/Toph fans; Should I post an oneshoot as an extra after this story is over or should I post it as a seperate story? As always thanks for the reviews!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Dislcaimer: Do Not Own.**

* * *

Ozai felt the sun rising before the rays of light stream through his windows. He pulled himself out of bed and quickly put on his sparring clothes. He glanced at the three naked women sleeping in his bed. He has been requesting different women to satisfy him since his prize has been stolen. The pale porcelain beauties were nothing like his favorite toy. They do not give him the perverse pleasure of overpowering them and making them scream. Only his prize gave him the ultimate power of being the Fire Lord.

He walked by his bed and opened the French doors leading out towards his balcony. "I want you gone when I returned," he announced without care. "If you are still here when I return, then your punishment would be death." He ignored the shrieks as he walked onto the balcony.

_Soon,_ he thought as he closed his eyes. He had received word from Admiral Turin that his prize has been found. _I will get my prize back and show the world how powerful I am._ He felt the sun rays energizing his skin. _I should triple her dose of the belladonna. The only person she should be serving is me._ An ugly smile formed on his face. _I hope the good admiral brings back my worthless son alive. I would love for him to see me fuck his little water savage before I slit his throat._

He raised his head up to enjoy the full rays of the sun. A frown immediately formed when he felt a shadow crossing his face. Gold eyes opened and then quickly widen. There was a black dot in the center of the sun and it appeared it was getting larger at an alarming speed. It took Ozai a few seconds to realize what it was.

It was the airship and it was heading directly towards the Palace.

"Sound the alarms!" Ozai bellowed as he ran into his room. He rushed past the half naked women and burst into the hall. "We're being attack!" he roared at the guards standing at the doors. "Get my men out there and defend the Capitol! Do not let those pathetic ingrates win!" The guards quickly disappeared without bowing. Ozai rushed down the hall towards the nearest exit. There was no way he was going to die by an airship. He still had to beat the Avatar.

_This time, I won't show mercy child! I'll make sure that you watch all your friends suffer!_

* * * *

_I should've thought this all the way through_, Cree thought as he adjusted the controls for one last time. Normally he would be excited about learning how this massive machine worked but he knew that he would never have another chance. The airship was going to crash into the Palace, hoping that it would destroy the large trebuchet and giving the army a chance to win. A sharp pang of sadness hit him.

He was not going to be celebrating with his comrades after the war because he was going to be dead.

He knew it was a stupid plan when he suggested it. The plan was so stupid that Sokka told him so but the Water Tribe warrior knew that it was the only option. They needed to take out the trebuchet if they had any chance of winning. They quickly unloaded the remaining soldiers and waited for sunrise to attack. The Fire Lord would not be expecting them attacking in the morning.

Cree glanced out the port side window and smiled. The Earth Kingdom army had started their raid early and they were quickly gaining ground. He saw rocks being thrown and firebenders quickly going down. A flash of yellow caught his attention and knew that the Avatar was zooming towards the Capitol hunting for the Fire Lord. With the Avatar's return, he hoped that this war would be finally over.

A green spot caught his attention and Cree stared at it. A sad smile formed on his face as he watched the green spot attack the Fire Nation soldiers. He felt the tears forming in his eyes. He hated that he blatantly lied to Toph. He told her that he would be leading a flank of soldiers and would see her after the war was over. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. He really liked the girl. If their situation was any different he would properly court and marry her when she turned sixteen. Sadly that was not the case. He swore that he would never fall in love again after his fiancée died. There was no way he could through all the pain like he did when he heard about his beloved Thalia.

_Thalia._

His hand went into his pocket and pulled out the woven gold bracelet. He held on to the bracelet for five years wondering if the spirits would take his life so he could be with her. Now he was having doubts. Even if Toph agreed to marry him when she turned sixteen, he will still have to convince her parents and he knew that would be a problem. Her parents would never agree because he was poor.

_But I want to be in her life. Any way I can._

He froze on that thought. That little blind earthbender with the offensive mouth have somehow broken through all the walls that he had built up for the last five years. She made him laugh and enjoy life. She gave him a reason to live again. He squeezed the bracelet in his hand.

"You always said things happen for a reason, Thalia," Cree muttered as he placed the bracelet on the console. "As always, you were right. I think I can finally start over without you." He glanced at the bracelet one last time. "I loved you and missed you but I have to move on."

He quickly unbuttoned his military jacket. He tied one sleeve to the controls and tied the other sleeve to the bolted control board. He increased the speed of the airship and left the helm. He quickly ran towards the back of the airship. He lost his footing when the airship shifted downwards but he regained his balance and kept on running. He kicked the hatch opened and crawled onto the tail wing. The airship dipped again and Cree started to run. He jumped when he reached the end of the wing and felt himself falling.

_By far, this is the most stupid plan ever!_

* * * *

Sokka swung his sword and gave a grunt of approval when it sliced through a soldier. He liked the sword that Master Piandao gave him before he left for the Capitol. The blade was thin and wide but it did not wobble when it was swung. The edge was razor sharp and it can cut through anything. The woven blue and black covered hilt was narrow and it fit in his hand comfortably. Just like all Piandao's swords, the weapon was perfectly balanced but he missed his space sword.

He loved that sword.

He charged at another soldier as fast as he could. His knee was still stiff from all the healing and he refused to sit out of the invasion. He wanted the Fire Nation to see that he was not giving up because he was injured. Plus he wanted to be one of the first people to see Katara when she returns. He also wanted to see Zuko and thank him for protecting his sister. Even if there was no relationship between the firebender and his sister, he was planning to give Zuko the highest honor in the Southern Water Tribe; blood brother.

He spun away from an attack and to his error he left his bummed knee defenseless. The soldier saw the opportunity and kicked it. Sokka gritted his teeth as he felt his knee popped and crumbled to the ground. The soldier gave a triumphant smirk and raised his weapon in the air for the final blow.

"Not today asshole," Sokka muttered and thrust his sword up. The weapon went through the soldier's stomach and he quickly pulled out. He managed to roll away as the soldier fell to the ground.

An earthen wall appeared and Toph came running up to him. "Are you okay, Snoozles?" she asked as she threw a boulder at a group of firebenders.

"Just dandy," Sokka answered as he rolled to his side. He bit his lip as his knee exploded in pain.

Toph wrinkled her nose. "Bullshit," she said. She slammed her foot into the ground and the earth shook. Soldiers lost their balance giving the allies a chance to attack. "I felt that knee popping!"

"I thought you're not going to talk to me again," Sokka said as he slowly went to his feet. He used his sword as a cane.

"I figured I'll stop talking to you after this stupid war is over," Toph replied. "There's no point to spite you when you're dead!"

"Gee, thanks!" Sokka muttered and ran his hand through his hair. A shadow caught his attention and looked up.

"What's wrong?"

Sokka did not answer Toph's question. He stared at the airship with regret. He wished that his invention was used for good instead of being used for evil. He wished that Cree did not have to sacrifice his life that way. The young captain was a good solider with a promising future with the Earth Kingdom army. Plus, Cree was his friend.

"How soon will it crash?"

"Soon," Sokka said with sadness. Cobalt eyes went wide in surprise when he saw something jumping from the tail of the airship. "Toph!" he yelled as he began quickly calculating the distance of the airship and the ground. "I need you to create a hill with an eight percent grade about a hundred yards to the east from here!"

"What?"

"Just do it!" Sokka screamed and began hobbling towards the direction that he gave out. "Do it now!"

* * * *

The earth magically appeared in front of his eyes during his free fall. All questions on how he reached the ground so fast disappeared when his right shoulder slammed into the earth with a loud pop. He ignored the pain in his shoulder as he tumbled down the hill like a rag doll. He was rolling so fast that he lost orientation of the ground and the sky. His back slammed into the flat ground and he felt his shoulder popping back into place. Green eyes stared into the sky as he let out a huge sigh of relief.

He was alive.

His lips twitched into a smile and began to laugh, hard. He covered his mouth with his left hand in a poor attempt to stop the manic laughter but instead it made it worse. Tears clouded his vision and he barely could see the person that was standing over him. The laughter died when the person spoke.

"I'll make you stop laughing, you worthless maggot," the man sneered as he raised his fist to strike.

Cree could only raise his hand in defense as the man's fist began to light up. Before the man had a chance to punch down, a sword imbedded itself into the man's chest. The fire disappeared from the man's fist and the force of the sword pushed the man down backwards. He landed on the ground with a loud thud. Cree stared at the body with disbelief.

"Ha!" Sokka shouted as he hobbled towards Cree. "This time I get my sword back!" He limped towards the body and pulled the sword out. He cleaned the blade on his pant leg as he looked at the young captain. "I thought you were supposed to be dead."

"Change my mind."

"Good," Sokka answered with a smile. "That part of your plan was stupid anyways."

A loud explosion was heard and the two men turned their heads to the direction of the noise. They watched in fascination as the airship collided into the Palace. The morning sky was filled with black smoke. Everyone on the battlefield stopped fighting and watched the Palace erupt in flames.

"Prince Zuko will not be happy," Cree whispered. "I left him homeless."

"Nah," Sokka answered as he leaned on his sword. "I think he was going to redecorate anyways."

Toph ran up to the men. "Cappie!" she shouted. "You're alive!" She swung her fist into his jaw. "Asshole!"

"Hey!" Cree shouted and rubbed his jaw. "What the fuck was that for?"

Sokka burst out laughing. "So you do swear!"

"Never do that again!" Toph yelled and gave him a huge hug. "Don't do stupid things like that again!"

He ignored the pain that erupted in his shoulder and returned the hug. _If things were different._ "I promise."

"That's cute," Sokka muttered as he pretended to gag. "You two can continue this later." He pointed to the Palace with his sword. "We have a war to win."

* * * *

Katara was blindsided when a soldier attacked from her left. He pushed her into a small house and threw her on a table. She let out a grunt when her back slammed onto the table. Her hands immediately went to her throat as she tried to pry the large hands off. The man loomed over her with a disgusting smile on his face as he tried to choke the life out of her. He reminded her of the bandit that tried to rape her in front of Zuko. Her fingers clawed at his hands as his grip went tighter.

Frantically she looked around for a weapon she could use. She barely could feel the water pulsing around her and there was nothing sharp to stab with. Blackness clouded her vision when the man slammed her head into the table. She fought the urge to pass out as she struggled under the man's grasp. Her eyes continued to search her surroundings in hope that a weapon magically appear.

_Give me something! Anything!_

Sapphire eyes landed on an object that was about an arm's reach away, a clay pot sitting on a window sill. Keeping her left hand on her attacker's hands, she reached for the pot. Tears formed in her eyes when her fingers barely touched the grooved clay finished. Her hand returned to her throat when breathing became too hard.

The man laughed at her with delight. "I'm not going to kill you, waterbender." He licked her cheek. "You will be more useful if you just pass out."

_Waterbender._ She could hear Ozai's voice echoing in her mind.

_Waterbender._ She could hear his laughter.

_Waterbender._ She could smell his sweat.

A primal scream escaped from her throat and she reached for the clay pot one last time. Her fingers grabbed the object and swung it at the man's head. The pot shattered when it came into contact to the man's temple. Large hands released from her throat as he slowly fell to his side. Holding a large sharp shard of clay, Katara pushed the man on his back and thrust the shard into his heart. She did not know if he was dead before but she knew he was dead now.

"Katara!" Mim shouted as he ran into the room with his bow drawn. He saw the dead man on the ground with her standing over him. "Shit," he mumbled as he stared at the clay shard that was protruding out of the man's chest. "You definitely do not take any prisoners."

She rubbed her throat. "It was me or him."

"Not arguing with that," Mim replied as he checked her throat for any bruising. "Are you sure you're not part Fire Nation?"

"I'm from the Southern Water Tribe," Katara said with a smug sniff. "I'm a natural warrior."

A sly smile appeared on Mim's face. "So I've heard," he said. His face became serious. "Have you seen Zuko?"

"No," Katara answered. "We separated when he heard that Turin was coming in from north."

He saw the worry on the young woman's face. "Then let's go find him," Mim said and took her hand.

The two fought their way through the crowded street to the north side of town. Katara grimaced in pain when a dagger slashed her arm. She noticed that Mim had a huge gash on his left cheek. They stopped running when they saw Zuko and Turin engaged in a fight.

"Zuko!" Katara yelled out as she tried to run to him.

Mim grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. "This is his fight."

"What are you talking about?" Katara spat. "This is not an Agni Kai!"

"To stop the battle, he needs to defeat Turin," Mim explained. "He needs to show the battalion that he's their leader." He saw the tears in her eyes. "He told me what happened during the Agni Kai with Azula. I'm not going give Turin any chance to hurt you."

Katara slowly nodded and buried her head into Mim's chest. She watched the two men use their fists and firebending. She saw soldiers and townspeople walking towards the fight to watch. It appeared that everyone stopped their fighting to see the final battle. Another tear ran down her cheek.

It was Zuko's fight.

* * * *

"Ten!" Bumi cackled as he cracked his knuckles.

"Twelve!" Pakku shouted as he froze three soldiers.

Hakoda gave Piandao a weary look. The swordsman gave him a smirk and continued to fight. The old men have been yelling out how many soldiers that they have taken out since the Fire Nation raided Ba Sing Se. It was like a game to them.

A very sick and demented game.

"Isn't it disturbing?" Hakoda asked as he used his club to attack a soldier.

"It's therapeutic," Piandao answered as he sliced another soldier down.

He successfully clubbed the soldier. "I find it distracting," Hakoda muttered.

"Only if you make it distracting," Piandao replied as he cleaned his blade with his tunic. He turned his head towards Bumi. "Thirteen!" The crazy old king cackled with delight.

Hakoda let out a grunt of disapproval as he wrapped his arm around another soldier's neck. "I hate to ask," he said. The soldier squirmed under his arm as he tried to fight his way out. "Is there some bet involved?"

Piandao gave a smile. "Losers have to buy the winner sake."

An eyebrow was raised. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Hakoda quickly snapped the soldier's neck. "Fifteen."

* * * *

Lieutenant Jee made a frown of disapproval of the sight before him. A Fire Nation soldier had a child cornered and it looked like that the soldier was going to kill the child. The little boy's face was filled with fear as he clutched the shiny boomerang to his heart. The soldier twitched his fingers in anticipation.

_Disgusting_, Jee thought as he pulled out a cigarette. _Absolutely disgusting._ A small flame appeared on his finger as he lit the cigarette. He angrily took a puff and walked forward. "Can I be any help?"

The soldier glanced over his shoulder. "Lieutenant Jee!" he exclaimed. "I didn't know you were going to be here!"

"Received orders to fight at Ba Sing Se," Jee answered cryptically. He flicked the ash off his cigarette. "What's going on?"

"Given orders to kill the rebels."

Jee saw that the child's eyes went wide. "But this is a child," he said as he took a puff. "How can a child be a rebel?"

"That child attacked me," the soldier said with disgust. "He's carrying a weapon. He's part of the rebel forces!"

"I see," Jee answered. He glanced at the soldier. "Do you mind if I remove the filth?"

"Go right ahead sir!"

He thrust his cigarette into the soldier's hand. "Hold that," he ordered. He walked up to the child and kneeled down. The boy shook in fear as he glared at him. "Hey there," he whispered soothingly.

"Hi."

"What's your name?"

Confusion spread on the child's face. "The…The Duke," the child answered.

"The Duke," Jee repeated and rested his hand on his knee. "That's a good name." He glanced at the boomerang in the boy's hand. "Are you from the Water Tribes?"

"No," The Duke answered as he clutched the weapon even tighter. "It's my grandfather's, well soon to be grandfather."

"Can you throw it?"

"Yeah," The Duke said. "But it won't come back!"

The solider snorted loudly behind him. "Lieutenant! Is this really necessary?"

"Patience!" Jee barked out. He returned to the child. "The Duke," he said softly as he removed the large helmet off the child's head. "I need you to close your eyes and cover your ears. Hum a song too. I don't want you to witness this." He saw the tears pool in the child's eyes. "I promise everything would be okay."

The child slowly nodded and did what he was told. Jee smiled when he heard an Earth Kingdom song that the children sang. He slowly stood up and walked back to the soldier. He took the cigarette out of the soldier's hand and took a long drag.

The soldier glared at him. "I thought you were going to get rid of the filth!"

Jee blew a large puff of smoke into the soldier's face. "I am."

The soldier did not have a chance to react when Jee dropped the cigarette and snapped his neck. He threw the soldier down and wiped his hands on his clothes. He walked back to the child and slowly pulled the small hands away from his ears. The Duke stopped humming and opened his eyes. He looked over Jee's shoulder and saw the dead soldier.

"What…What happened?"

Jee handed The Duke his boomerang and helmet. "I promised that everything would be okay."

"But that man was Fire Nation like you," The Duke said as he placed his helmet on his head.

"He may be Fire Nation but he wasn't me," Jee answered stiffly as he picked up the child. "I take my orders from Fire Lord Zuko."

A smile spread on The Duke's face. "You know Zuko?"

Jee was confused by the child's question. "How do you know Fire Lord Zuko?"

The Duke opened his mouth to answer but a voice echoed down the hall. "The Duke!" the voice screamed out. "The Duke! Where are you?"

"Suki!" The Duke cried out and he squirmed out of Jee's arms. He ran down the hall with Jee following him. "Suki, I'm over here!"

Jee thought he was going to witness a happy reunion, instead he was greeted with a sharp fan grazing his jugular. The young woman snarled at him while she pulled the child behind her.

"Get away," the woman threatened as she pressed the fan into his neck.

"Suki!" The Duke yelled as he tried to move around her. "He saved my life! He knows Zuko!"

The fan did not move. "Does he now?" she said sarcastically.

"Ah, Lieutenant Jee," Iroh announced as he jogged towards the group. "You finally made it!"

"You know him?" Suki asked as she removed the fan away from Jee's throat.

"Why yes," Iroh said with a smile. "I requested his assistance."

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The Palace was blazing when Aang landed in the courtyard. He slammed his glider into the ground and a gust of wind blew out the fire that was slowly creeping towards him. He moved quickly when he felt a fireball flying towards his back. His skin began to crawl when he heard the evil laughter surrounding him.

"Avatar," Ozai sneered as he walked towards the boy. "We meet again."

"It's over, Ozai!" Aang shouted in anger. "Give it up! You've lost!"

Ozai looked at his nails. "The only way this war is going to end is you killing me," he gave a smug smirk.

"And we both know that you can't do it."


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey everybody! Sorry this took so long. I had hit a you name it, I had it funk (not a block). Don't worry, this story (plus the others) will be done, it would just take a little bit longer (hopefully not as long as this). As always, you guys have been great readers and thanks for the patience!**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do Not Own.**

**What a moron I am! I posted two stories and didn't realize that my page breaks disappeared! Sheesh!**

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The fight between Zuko and Turin was a stalemate. Each punch was deflected by a block. Each firebending attack was stopped by a firebending defense. The men moved through each series waiting for the other to make a fatal mistake. The battle around them finally stopped as each soldier and civilian watched to see who the victor would be.

Zuko swung his leg when Turin thrust his fist. Fire erupted from the appendages and collided with each other, creating a blast of heat. The two men jumped back and glared at each other as they try to catch their breath. Zuko could feel the energy of his element crackling in his body. His fingers twitched in anticipation as he waited for the next attack. He felt the fatigue but his mind refuse to surrender.

Turing gave him an ugly snarl. "I'm impressed," he said nonchalantly. "I was expecting you to be weak."

"I've grown up."

"Did your water savage help you?" He laughed darkly. "Did she show you how to be a man?"

Zuko let out a growl and charged the admiral. He barely saw the flash of silver metal and grimaced when he felt his chest exploded in pain. He rolled away from Turin and touched his chest. He felt the wetness on his fingers and when he looked down, he noticed that his tunic has been slashed open and blood was oozing out. Laughter was heard while Turin played with the knife.

"Let's see if you're good with weapons."

Zuko wiped the blood on to his pants and looked around. He backed himself into a wall that led to a narrow alley. Items that littered along the wall ranged from large barrels filled with liquid that smelled like kerosene to metal chains in random lengths. He picked up a chain that was near his foot and quickly tugged it for strength. It appeared that the metal was strong and it was long enough to use as a weapon.

"Watch what you wish for."

He began swinging the chain and took a step forward. Every step he took, he swung the chain around his arms and neck. The chain swung effortlessly around him, not getting tangle up with his body. Turin easily moved away from the chain when Zuko thrust forward. The chain would retreat from the attack making a loud whipping sound.

Zuko snapped the chain forward and this time it wrapped around Turin's wrist. The admiral automatically grabbed the chain with his captured hand and tugged. The movement was so fast that the banished prince lost his footing and tumbled forward towards the older man. He moved away at the last minute when he saw Turin swinging the knife down. The quick movement surprised Turin and both men tumbled towards a large barrel.

Turin's body crashed into the barrel first and the contents spilled out. A familiar smell surrounded them as the two wrestled to the ground. Zuko felt his stomach twist uncomfortably when he recognized the smell. It was kerosene.

A flash of metal brought his attention back to the man that was fighting him. Zuko shot his hand up and caught Turin's wrist. The admiral laughed as he tried to thrust the knife into younger man's face. Zuko narrowed his eyes as he held the knife at bay.

"Like the knife?" Turin whispered darkly as he fought back. "It was a gift from your lovely fiancée."

Zuko's eyes widen. "You're Mai's lover!"

"I'm her only lover!" Turin spat. "She only wanted you because you were the heir to the throne! She never loved you! She was obligated to you!"

"I ended the engagement!" Zuko protested. "I had no desire to marry her!" He pushed the knife away from his face and it went into the ground. He used his knee to push the older man off.

Turin quickly rolled to his side. "You've been a pain in my ass."

"I'm glad I did something right."

"You know how long I've been trying to get rid of you?" Turin snarled as he threw a punch.

Zuko easily blocked it. "How long?"

"Since it's been announced that you were becoming admiral!"

Things began to click in his mind. "It was you," he whispered. Rage flooded him. "It was you!" He threw himself at the older man. "You were the one that suggested sending out the recruits!" He smiled darkly when a fist connected to Turin's face. "You knew that I was going to object!"

Turin covered his right eye and stumbled into the wall. "It worked too! I had you out of my way and I had to wait for Zhao to screw up." He gave a huge grin. "I have to thank the Avatar for that."

Zuko wanted to burn the man where he stood but he knew that was not a good idea. They were both covered in kerosene and one tiny flick of a flame would engulf them. His fingers twitched in agitation as he watched the smirking man.

"What's the matter _Prince Zuko_?" Turin taunted as he moved away from the wall. "Afraid of making a fireball?"

"Shut up," Zuko snarled and lunged at the man.

Turin burst out laughing and side stepped away from the young man. He grabbed Zuko's arm and swung the teenager towards his chest. Zuko sucked in his breath when he saw the knife pressed against his throat.

"You weak pathetic boy," Turin growled as he pressed the knife closer to Zuko's throat. "You failed as a royal member of the great Fire Nation and you failed as a traitor!" His eyes travelled to Katara and Mim. "I should prove my point by slicing your neck," he chuckled. "I would love to see your water whore's reaction when she watches you die."

Zuko could feel his blood boiling. "Fuck off!" he yelled and slammed his head back.

He heard a satisfied crunching sound and a moan from the admiral. The knife was pulled away and Zuko was pushed toward a group of barrels. He heard the wood splintering around him and his body was covered in a liquid. He felt the dangerous smirk growing on his face when he realized that he was drenched in water.

"You're going to pay, you ungrateful brat," Turin shouted out as he held his nose with his right hand. His left hand gripped the knife tightly. "I'm going to make sure that your death would be slow and painful."

The older man charged and Zuko easily moved away. He extended his hand out and grabbed Turin's left arm. In a swift movement he spun the admiral around and twisted the wrist. A yell pierced through the air when the bones in the wrist snapped.

Zuko tossed Turin into the dirt and circled around the crying man. He felt the hatred and anger brewing in him as he glared at the older man. Turin slowly came to his knees and gave the banished prince an ugly look.

"What are you going to do now, _Prince Zuko_?" Turin spat as he glared at Zuko. "Are you going to show weakness by giving me mercy?"

Zuko did not say anything but thrust his hand forward. The admiral never had a chance to block the attack and his body erupted into flames. Screams and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Zuko stepped away from the burning body and watched with disinterest. Disgust and smugness warred within him.

"I could be like Ozai and let you burn," Zuko whispered darkly, "but I'm going to show you mercy." He flicked his wrist.

He did not even flinch when an arrow zipped over his shoulder and impaled itself into the admiral's head. Turin dropped to the ground dead while the flames continued to lick at his body. Zuko glanced over his shoulder and gave a curt nod. Standing a hundred feet away was Colonel Shinu holding a bow. The man returned the nod and lowered his weapon.

Zuko turned away from Turin's body and stared at the crowd that surrounded him. Soldiers and villagers stared at him with a stun silence. Amber eyes landed on Katara. Her fingers clutched Mim's tunic but she held her head up. There was no fear or disgust in her blue eyes just pride. He felt his resolve crumbling when he took a step forward.

"I'm declaring this war over!" Zuko yelled to the silent crowd. "I am your lord and I'm returning home! Who wants to challenge my order?"

At first, no one dare to move until one soldier went to his knee and lowered his head. It became a domino effect with each soldier leaving only the villagers standing. Basha took a stepped forward and bowed towards Zuko. The villagers quickly followed.

Zuko's legs gave out and he dropped to the ground. He felt numb and exhausted but at the same time he felt relieved. He was able to go home and take his birth right. More importantly, he kept Katara safe.

Katara pulled herself away from Mim and slowly walked toward Zuko. Sapphire eyes stared at the weary figure on the ground and she realized that he was trying to keep his emotions in check. She dropped to her knees and pulled Zuko into her arms. He instantly clutched onto her shirt and burrowed his head into her neck. His body trembled as she rubbed his back and whispered words of comfort.

Everyone standing around them stared at the couple with wonder. They watched Katara gave out orders for supplies and then Mim repeating those orders. Some of the soldiers nearby began to move quickly when they saw the dangerous look on the waterbender's face. Still kneeling and holding the newly declared Fire Lord in her arms, Katara managed to organize a triage for all the wounded soldiers and villagers. No one dared to question the woman because they believed in one thing.

The waterbender was the Fire Lady.

Aang felt every muscle in his body screaming at him to stop. He fought hard against Ozai but the older man seemed to be stronger than him. The two fought non-stop; not daring in giving their opponent a chance to catch their breath. Feeling the anger overwhelming over him, Aang pushed Ozai across the room with a blast of air.

Desperate for a break, the young monk yelled out the first thing that came to his mind. "You hurt Katara!"

Ozai paused for a second and then let out a disturbing laugh. "Is that her name?" His gold eyes narrowed at the young monk. "Is that what you're told?" he mocked.

Aang raised an eyebrow and lowered his stance. "What are you talking about?"

A predatory grin appeared on Ozai's face. "She _enjoyed_ her stay here."

"You're lying!"

"Am I?" Ozai asked. _This is going to be fun._ "She screamed out her pleasure."

The comment confused Aang. "What are you talking about?"

"You didn't know?" Ozai replied acting shock. "Your little water savage is not as wholesome you thought she was." He took a step closer to the Avatar. "She screamed my name every night."

"What?"

"She was very pliable too. I can see why water savages of her caliber are so valuable." Ozai smiled when he saw the Avatar flinched when he licked his lips. "Her voice was quite lovely also. She sounded like the wanton whore she was."

Aang dropped his staff. "Stop it!"

"But my name was not the only name that was screamed out." Ozai paused for a second enjoying the look on Aang's face. It looked like the boy's world was being destroyed. "My son may be pathetic but at least he did something right."

_No_, Aang thought as he stared at the triumphant Fire Lord. _Katara wouldn't do that! She wouldn't degrade herself to such unwholesomeness! Zuko would but not Katara!_

He felt the rage growing in him when he thought about Zuko. The banished prince was the reason why Katara was in this situation. It was Zuko's fault that Katara had to do what Ozai said she did! Anger filtered towards Katara. If she used her body for Ozai's pleasure, then she must have willingly used her body for other men during their adventures. Aang closed his eyes and tried to calm his rage.

"She's quite the prize Avatar," Ozai taunted. "If you beat me, I would be happy to give you some tips."

_Purity should be the way for love_, the monks' voices echoed in Aang's head. _Avoid the things that are impure, for they can destroy humanity in man._ The voices of the monks quickly change into the Avatars of the past. _Let go of all possessions that are impure. The impureness of man would never give the happiness that the Avatar seeks. The Avatar needs the balance of harmony and purity in this unbalanced world._

Something inside of him just snapped. He could feel the power of the Spirit World colliding with his natural powers.

Ozai took the opportunity to attack while Aang was fighting within himself. Fire erupted from his hand as he swung it to the unsuspecting Avatar. His fist never connected to the child's face. At the last possible minute, Aang grabbed Ozai's fist and snubbed out the fire without batting an eye. The arrogant smirk on the Fire Lord's face slowly crumbled as he watched the Avatar's eyes began to glow.

The last thing he saw was the glow surrounding him.

Sokka limped down the hall as fast as he could with Toph and Cree at his heels. He had seen the bright white light that escaped from the burning palace and he knew that it came from Aang. Every horrible thought went through his mind as he tried to think what caused the bright light. The only comforting thought that kept repeating was that Aang finally went into the Avatar State.

He *_rayed_ that Aang went into the Avatar State.

The courtyard was eerily quiet when he approached it. He could hear the echoing sounds of footsteps from his and Cree's shoes and the heavy panting sound of Toph's breathing. Smoke clouded his vision as he tried to find the short silhouette of his friend and hopefully the body of the Fire Lord. He turned to Toph's direction when he heard the blind little earthbender suck in her breath.

"I feel a heartbeat."

"Is it Aang's?"

There was a pause, too long for Sokka's comfort. "I can't tell," she confessed. "It's different but I know it's not Lord Fire Pants."

"Then who is it?" Cree asked as he tried to squint through the hazy field of the smoke.

The wind swirled around them and the smoke cleared away. Sokka froze in his spot as he saw the body of the Fire Lord lying in the middle of the courtyard. Aang was walking towards him. There was something different about the monk that made Sokka uneasy.

"I'll send out the news that the Fire Lord is dead and the order for the enemy to surrender," Cree announced.

Sokka just nodded his head as he stared at his friend. Aang just kept on glaring at him when he approached. The young monk looked _ancient_. It was the only word that the Water Tribe warrior could think of that closely described his friend. Aang looked wise, powerful and tired.

"Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked, sounding unsure.

The Avatar stopped a few feet away from them. "I hope you're happy," he snapped.

Sokka glanced at the body of the former Fire Lord. "You did it," he whispered softly. His gaze returned to his friend. "You ended the war."

"It shouldn't end in death!"

"Then how should it end?" Toph yelled, her voice raising an octave.

"I need to meditate," Aang said instead. His grey eyes narrowed at Sokka. "Just leave me at peace."

Sokka felt himself nodding like a fool. "Sure," he replied. He hoped that his voice sounded cheerful. "I'll get you when Katara and Zuko return."

Aang let out a snort of disdain. "Sure, fine, whatever."

Sokka and Toph stared at Aang as he walked away from them. Sokka felt like a fish out of water as he kept opening and closing his mouth. There was no word to describe the dark powerful cloud that hovered over his friend when Katara and Zuko's names were mentioned. He could feel Toph's sightless eyes staring at him as he forced himself to swallow.

"What was _that_ all about?"

"I believe he found out about Katara."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Honestly," Sokka replied with a shake of his head. "I don't really know."


	28. Chapter 28

**This is one of many chapters/scenes that formed in my head and started this story. This was also one of the hardest to write! I do hope it was worth the wait.**

**Enjoy & Review!**

**Disclaimer: Do not own.**

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It has been four months since Sokka has last seen his sister, not that he have been counting. Four long months since he had received word that his sister was a prisoner and being forced doing who knows what from a sick bastard that wanted to destroy the world. He shifted anxiously on his feet as he fiddled with the hem of the red cotton tunic. A soft cough was heard behind him.

"You have to relax General," Cree said as he walked up to him. "You've been moving nonstop since word came a week ago." He glanced at the Water Tribe warrior. "You'll do more damage to your knee."

It has been a very busy month since the war officially ended. The Fire Nation Army announced allegiance to Zuko, Aang kept order in the Capitol, the allies have been assisting in cleaning up, and Ozai's body was waiting in the dungeons to be disposed of. A messenger hawk appeared with a letter from a man named Mim who claimed to be Zuko's advisor. The parchment stated that the Royal Family would be returning home in one week time. Since then, Sokka could not contain his excitement.

He leaned on the crutch. "Katara is coming."

"I know," Cree said with a smile. "But what I heard about your sister, she'll be very upset at you if you hurt yourself even more."

"Toph's been telling stories," Sokka answered with a frown. "I'm afraid in what she told you."

Cree shrugged. "Nothing damaging."

"Define damaging."

Cree let out a laugh. His face became sober as he looked towards the Palace's gate. "Someone is coming."

Sokka followed Cree's gaze and sucked in his breath. It was a large group of people that were marching toward the Palace. The small battalion was following a group of men carrying bows and in front of that group were five people. Sokka immediately recognize two of the five.

"Katara!" he cried out as he hobbled to the group.

"Sokka!" Katara cried out as she broke away.

The Water Tribe warrior slowed down as he limped his way to his sister. Katara gave a shriek that was a mixture of laughter and tears as she ran to her brother. He smiled as he felt the warm arms wrapping around him, giving him a big hug that he knew he missed. Tears pricked at his eyes as he held his sister. This is one of the times that it was okay for a warrior to cry.

"Sis," Sokka whispered as he cupped her face. Cobalt blue eyes scanned every feature on Katara's face. She looked older with the tension lines around her lips. Her sapphire blue eyes lacked the youthful happiness it once held and there was an underlying darkness in them. The overwhelming rage in him quickly disappeared when she gave him her dazzling smile.

"Sokka," Katara whispered back and hugged him again. "I miss you so much!" She glanced at his injury. "Your knee!"

Her exclamation made him laugh. "I haven't seen you for four months and you're worried about my knee!" He laughed even harder when he saw the disapproving look on her face. "Some solider kicked it during a fight."

"I should look at it."

"I'm fine," Sokka reassured. "The worse that's going to happen is that I'm going to have a limp."

"But!"

"You're home now," Sokka said softly. He saw the surprise look in her eyes when he mentioned the word home. He silently chastised himself for the insensitive remark. The Fire Nation capitol was probably the last place she wants to be. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

Katara shook her head and gave him a bigger smile. "I am home."

Sokka's attention was pulled away from his sister and looked at the man standing behind her. Zuko looked older also. His amber eyes held the same darkness as Katara's. He stood tall and proud which Sokka was familiar with but the Water Tribe warrior could sense the power from the posture. He was not seeing the arrogant banished prince anymore but a confident man that was fit to rule a nation.

He extended his hand to the prince. "Zuko," he smiled warmly. Zuko grasped the hand in the Water Tribe gesture but let out a huge gasp when Sokka pulled him into a hug. "Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for protecting her."

"You're welcome," Zuko answered awkwardly and pushed away. He cleared his throat and looked away. "Why is there an airship in the Palace?"

Sokka blinked for a second and gave a huge laugh. "Believe it or not, it was not my idea!" he said excitedly. He nodded his head toward Cree to come forward. "This is Captain Cree of the Earth Kingdom Army. It was his idea."

Cree looked panicked. "Master Katara, Fire Lord Zuko," he greeted in an awkward bow, "it's an honor to meet you." He glared at Sokka. "It's true that it was my idea for crashing the airship into the Palace but I'm sure the General forgot to mention why I had to crash the airship."

"_General_?" Katara asked sounding shock. "You're a General?"

"Even better, huh?" Sokka beamed. "I planned all the battles! I told you that I was a master strategist." His sister was staring at him blankly while the new Fire Lord looked perplexed. Sokka was going to explain but a blind blur flew right by him and tackled the petite waterbender.

"Sugar Queen!" Toph screamed while hugging the dazed waterbender. "You're back! I missed you so much!"

A soft smile appeared on Katara's face and returned the hug. "I missed you too," she whispered.

"When I heard…" Toph started to choke up. "I wanted…I never felt…I…"

"I know," Katara answered. "I know."

Toph pulled away and angrily wiped her eyes. She twisted her body toward Zuko and gave him a smirk. "You did well, Sparky."

"Err…Thanks?" Zuko answered hesitantly. He let out an oomph when the earthbender launched herself onto him.

"Dust Bunny, I don't think it's a good idea to assault the new Fire Lord."

"Stuff it Cappie," Toph answered as she buried her head into Zuko's stomach.

"_Dust Bunny_?" Katara choked out.

"Long story," Toph replied. Katara picked up the tone in her friend's voice. The earthbender would want to talk about it later, alone.

Zuko managed to pull Toph away from him. He tried to look irritated but there was a hint of a smile on his face as he patted the earthbender's head. He glanced at the destroyed palace and gave a huge sigh. "Is Ozai…?"

"Dead as dead could be," Sokka answered quickly. There was a hint of malice and disgust in his voice. "Aang did what he was supposed to do."

"Where's Aang?" Katara asked, now noticing that the young airbender was not with them.

Sokka glanced at Toph and Cree before clearing his throat. "Aang has been meditating since we declared victory. He wasn't happy about killing that asshole."

"Not surprised there," Zuko growled.

"We didn't know what to do with the body," Sokka continued, "so we kept it in the dungeons. We believed that it was your right to dispose the body anyway you want."

A dark smile appeared on the firebender's face which made Sokka jump. "I can't wait to dispose it." The smile quickly became a look of worry. "Any word on Ba Sing Se?"

Cree was the one that spoke. "Ba Sing Se has won the battle. Just before you and Master Katara arrived, I have received word that General Iroh and some of the warriors were coming to the Fire Nation to discuss matters. Judging by the date of the letter, they should arrive tomorrow the earliest."

Zuko gave a sigh of relief. "Thank Agni," he mumbled. He straightened his shoulders. "I should go to the dungeons and decide how to clear the filth."

"Sounds good," Sokka agreed. "Why ruin a perfectly good dungeon?" Toph snorted in amusement.

"Katara," Zuko started, "why don't you wait with Ling. I don't think you should come." He knew he said the wrong thing when her eyes narrowed.

"I want to come."

Sokka rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know, Sis."

"I want to see the bastard," Katara said flatly, giving no one an option to protest. If anyone did want to protest, they could not anyways since she was walking away from the group. Toph quickly followed the waterbender with Cree trailing behind them. Zuko mumbled something under his breath and Sokka was sure that the words were directed at his sister.

"Hey," Sokka whispered and grabbed Zuko's arm. The firebender turned toward him with a confused look on his face. "There's something you should need to know about Mai and Ty Lee."

"Ozai killed them," Zuko answered. He elaborated when the Water Tribe warrior gave him a blank look. "I found out when Katara and I were in a village. Apparently, Ozai killed a lot of innocent people out of paranoia." He turned his head away. "There should be a proper memorial for all of those who lost their lives."

"A worldwide day of mourning," Sokka agreed. He started to chuckle. "Should we add the ritual burning of an Ozai doll?"

A smirk appeared on the firebender's face. "I like that idea." He glanced over his shoulder. "We should get going. I'm afraid of what Katara would do when she sees the body."

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The smell of a decaying body was disgusting. It filled the small cell and it hung around like a thick fog. Katara instantly covered her mouth when the door opened and the smell floated out. Her eyes burned and she forced herself not to vomit by the smell. She did not want Ozai to have the victory of terrorizing her even after death.

"Oh spirits," Cree mumbled and instantly covered his mouth. "What a horrible smell."

Toph gagged a little. "No kidding. Definitely not roses."

_You always smell like roses._ Katara flushed at Zuko's declaration.

She forced her eyes on the lump on the ground. The body was decomposing for a month but she still sees the surprised look on the bastard's face. Whoever tossed the body into the dungeon never bothered to close the gold eyes. They stared at her with emptiness. She stayed motionless as anger build in her.

"You bastard," Katara whispered to the body. "You fucking bastard." She ignored the smell as she moved to the body. She pushed her foot into the shoulder. "You fucking disgusting bastard."

"Katara," someone murmured. She did not know who it was but she knew it was a male.

She kicked the body hard. "I hate you!" she screamed as she continued to kick. "I fucking hate you!" She could not stop her foot from kicking. "You destroyed everything without even caring!" She directed her foot to Ozai's face. "You wanted to kill the world's only hope! You maimed your son because he just wanted your approval! You executed your daughter because you believed she was weak! You…" she briefly paused to collect her thoughts, "you forced yourself…" rage took over as she kicked harder into the face. She became blinded by the rage and her tears.

A cool arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her away. "Katara!" the voice yelled over her screaming. "Katara, he's dead!" She was spun around and her face was buried into a warm body that smelled like the outdoors. "He's dead, love."

Those words brought a new wave of tears and a choke scream echoed in the cell. Zuko held her closer. "He's dead, love," he whispered. "You're free. He'll never hurt you again."

Sokka watched his sister interact with the firebender. He wanted to resurrect Ozai and kill him with his own bare hands. He has hated the evil man before but now he was feeling something that was beyond hatred. He prayed that the former Fire Lord's spirit would never be forgiven. But he heard the words that were spoken to Katara. They were not words just to comfort her; they were words that were filled with love. A smile graced his face even though the situation was dire.

His sister was truly safe.

"Mim," Zuko called out over Katara's shoulder. "Can you dispose of the body?"

Sokka jumped when a man about Zuko's age stepped out of the shadows. Toph chuckled at the Water Tribe warrior. "How would you like the body dispose?"

"Burn it," Zuko replied darkly. "Throw it in the volcano. I don't want that body infected the air, the earth," he hugged Katara closer, "and the water."

Mim gave a bow. "Of course my lord," he said. He snapped his fingers and four men appeared. "Throw the body in the volcano." He glanced at the group in the tiny cell. "Anyone wants to join me in pissing on a body?"

A hand shot in the air. "Oh!" Toph exclaimed as she jumped up and down. "Me!"

Mim grinned at the blind earthbender. "A woman from my own heart." He offered his arm. "I would be honored to escort you."

Cree let out a huff as he watched Toph wrapped her hand around Mim's arm. "I think he was joking Lady Bei Fong."

Mim smirked at Cree. "Was I?" Before the young captain could say something, Mim disappeared with Toph on his arm.

There was a shaky sigh. "As a representative of the Earth Kingdom, I should witness the destruction of the body." Cree gave a quick bow and left the cell.

Katara stared at Sokka. "Did I miss something?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's too confusing to explain even when I don't even know what's going on," Sokka answered. He glanced at his sister and the firebender and a dopey grin appeared on his face. "I should go and watch them dispose of the body, since I'm Water Tribe and all." He quickly spun on his heels and walked off whistling.

Katara rolled her eyes. "My brother is so weird."

Zuko wrapped his arm around her. "Weird is an understatement." He pulled her close and held her tight. "It's over," he whispered as he inhaled her scent. Even in a dungeon filled with the smell of decay, she still smelled like roses.

Katara lifted her head up to stare into his eyes. There where happiness in those gold eyes. Her fingers traced his jaw before cupping it. "It is," she whispered. "We are free." She lowered his head toward her face.

Warm lips pressed against cool lips as the two benders begin to kiss. Katara's hands left his face, trailed up his shoulders, and lazily wrap around his neck. Zuko made sure that their bodies were flushed together by pressing his hands into her back. A small voice in the back of his head that sounded like Iroh was shouting that kissing in the dungeon was considered inappropriate but he did not care. The war was over, he was the Fire Lord, and Katara was safe.

Most importantly she loved him.

The kiss was interrupted by a choking sound. The young couple turned their heads to see who entered the small cell. To their horror, it was Aang. The airbender was glaring at them with a hatred that neither bender saw before. His fingers clutching the staff were turning white. Stormy grey eyes narrowed at the couple.

"Ozai was right," Aang growled.


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